Assessing Receptivity to Empirically Supported Treatments in Rape Crisis Centers

Survivors of sexual violence are at risk for PTSD, depression, and anxiety. There are several empirically supported treatments (EST) that are effective for addressing these trauma symptoms; however, uptake of these ESTs among Rape Crisis Center (RCC) counselors is low. This research project sought to determine counselors’ attitudes toward evidence-based practices (EBPs); their perceptions of the intervention characteristics of three specific ESTs: Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy; and differences in attitudes and perceptions based on agency setting (urban/rural) and counselor education. The Consolidated Framework for Advancing Implementation Science (CFIR) was used to construct a web-based survey to send to all RCCs in Texas (n=83) resulting in an overall agency response rate of 72% (n=60) and responses from 76 counselors. Counselors’ attitudes towards EBP and perspectives on specific ESTs suggest that dissemination and implementation efforts are needed within the RCC service sector to advance the uptake of CPT, EMDR and PE

Promises and Perils of a Psychopathology of Crime: The Troubling Case of Juvenile Psychopathy

In Part I, this Essay describes the historical conceptions of psychopathy, and Part II discusses contemporary perspectives. Part III reviews contemporary juvenile psychopathy assessment measures. In Part IV, the Essay analyzes the factors characteristic of psychopathic youth. Part V reports on pertinent etiological theories. Finally, Part VI suggests directions future research in this field should take. Part VII provides concluding remarks on the troubling case of juvenile psychopathy

Mental health pathways linking maltreatment to interpersonal revictimization during adolescence for girls in the child welfare system

This study compares the association of histories of childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and physical neglect with revictimization among adolescent girls, and investigates the role of posttraumatic stress and symptoms of depression as mediators. Participants were 234 girls aged 12 to 19 years, who have been involved with the child welfare system in a Midwestern urban area. Data were collected from baseline surveys of a trauma-focused group program to which the participants were referred. The majority of participants were youths of color (75%) who were primarily African American (70%), and the remaining participants were White, non-Hispanic (25%). Data were collected through surveys that assessed histories of child abuse and neglect, symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression, and experiences of physical, verbal, and relational revictimization in the last 3 months. All types of abuse and neglect were significantly associated with higher frequencies of revictimization and higher levels of posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms. Parallel mediation analyses demonstrated that both posttraumatic stress and depression fully mediated the relationships between emotional abuse and revictimization, and sexual abuse and revictimization. Physical abuse was fully mediated by posttraumatic stress, but not by depression. Results also indicated that neither posttraumatic stress nor depression were mediators for the relationship between neglect and revictimization. There were similar pathways to revictimization in adolescents from emotional and sexual abuse through posttraumatic stress and depression. Evidence is mounting for the deleterious effects of emotional abuse. There is evidence that treatment of both posttraumatic stress and depression in emotionally and sexually abused adolescents involved in child welfare is warranted to prevent future revictimization

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

How Sex Trading Identities Shape Experiences of Service Provision: Insights from Adult Women with Lived Experiences and Service Providers

The relationship between women’s identities of sex trading and their engagement with social service providers remains understudied. Drawing from larger grounded theory study, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 adult women who traded sex as adults and 20 service providers who come into contact with this population in a U.S. Midwestern city. Women engaging in services were sampled through maximum variation sampling and women not engaged with services were recruited through snowball sampling. Providers were recruited through purposive sampling through the coalition and nominations sampling. Findings suggest that women experienced one of three themes of identity formation with regard to sex trading (i.e. people who trade sex, independent prostitutes, or prostitutes with pimps). Although some women could legally be considered victims of sex trafficking, they viewed sex trafficking as the involvement of multiple underage girls in a trafficking ring, which did not resonate with their experiences. Providers would sometimes attempt to highlight their perceived danger of sex trading and use different words than their clients used to describe the sex trading. Women received messages of financial worth in sex trading based on their racial identities. Implications for social work practice are]. discussed