Toward a More Comprehensive Understanding of Interpersonal Violence: Introduction to the Special Issue on Interconnections among Different Types of Violence

Recent epidemiological work shows that most victims of interpersonal violence have experienced other forms of violence as well. Similarly, perpetrators of one type of violence often engage in aggression in other contexts, and many people report both perpetration and victimization. This special issue presents 8 studies on the leading edge of research investigating the interconnections among different forms of violence, abuse, and maltreatment. They examine links between sexual and physical abuse, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence, community violence, and violent media. Together, they suggest that focusing on the co-occurrence of different types of violence has the potential to advance our understanding of the causes and consequences of violence and to develop more effective approaches to prevention and intervention

College Students’ Perceptions of Barriers to Bystander Intervention

Sexual violence is a major problem on college campuses and is associated with a range of negative health consequences for victims. Teaching students to intervene as prosocial bystanders has become a common element of sexual assault prevention efforts; although these programs have demonstrated positive effects on participants’ beliefs and knowledge, their impact on actual behavior is weaker. Understanding the factors that inhibit intervening in risky situations may enhance the effectiveness of bystander programs by identifying material that addresses these barriers. A sample of 281 first-year college students indicated whether they had encountered 10 situations that may present elevated risk of sexual or physical assault since arriving on campus, and if so, whether they had done something to intervene. If they had not intervened, they were asked to identify the barriers that had inhibited them. Participants also completed measures of two factors proposed to predict bystander behavior, self-efficacy and emotion regulation. A majority of participants intervened in most of the situations, but only 27% of participants intervened in every situation they encountered. Men and women differed in the barriers they identified most frequently across situations, with men endorsing Perceived Responsibility more often than women, and women reporting Skill Deficits more often than men. Neither men nor women perceived Audience Inhibition to be a significant barrier; it was salient in only one of the 10 situations. Students higher in global bystander self-efficacy were more likely to intervene and less likely to report barriers related to skill deficits and perceived responsibility. These results suggest that existing bystander intervention programs efforts can be improved by fostering a greater sense of collective responsibility in students and teaching specific intervention behaviors

Maternal Attachment Buffers the Association Between Exposure to Violence and Youth Attitudes About Aggression

The present study examined the relative and cumulative predictive power of parent–child, interparental, and community aggression on youths\u27 perceptions of the acceptability of aggression between peers and siblings. The potential for mother–child attachment to buffer the effects of violence on aggressive attitudes was tested, as well as the link between aggressive attitudes and aggressive behaviors. A diverse sample of 148 children (ages 9–14) completed measures of interparental, parent–child, and community aggression; a measure of mother–child attachment quality; and a measure of aggressive behaviors. Participants also rated the acceptability of aggressive interactions between two peers and two siblings in written vignettes. Mothers completed a measure of their child\u27s aggressive behaviors. Youths\u27 violence exposure was related to perceptions of aggression as more acceptable, with parent–child aggression having the only unique association. Maternal attachment buffered the relation between exposure to community violence and perceived acceptability of aggression, which predicted decreased aggression. When exposed to high levels of community violence, youths with more secure maternal attachment perceived aggression as less acceptable than youths with less secure attachment and, in turn, displayed fewer aggressive behaviors. Interventions that focus on strengthening the caregiver–child relationship in children exposed to violence may reduce aggressive behaviors by interrupting the development of aggressive attitudes

Adolescent Triangulation into Parental Conflicts: Longitudinal Implications for Appraisals and Adolescent-Parent Relations

Although triangulation into parental conflict is a risk factor for child and adolescent maladjustment, little is known about how triangulation affects adolescents’ functioning or the factors that lead children to be drawn into parental disagreements. This prospective study examined the relations between triangulation, appraisals of conflict, and parent-child relations in a sample of 171 adolescents, ages 14 to 19 years, at 2 time points. Cross-lagged path analyses revealed that youths who experienced greater threat in response to conflict reported increases in triangulation over time, and triangulation was associated with increased self-blame and diminished parent-adolescent relations. This study highlights links between intrapersonal, dyadic, and triadic processes and suggests a mechanism by which interparental discord spills over into parent-adolescent relations

Exploring the Role of Attachment Style in the Relation between Family Aggression and Abuse in Adolescent Dating Relationships

This study investigated romantic attachment style as a potential moderator of the link between family aggression and dating aggression, and examined its relations with documented mediators of the impact of interparental conflict on dating behavior: attitudes about the justifiability of aggression and anger regulation. Participants were 391 ethnically diverse 14-to 18-year-olds (52% female). Attachment style was a significant moderator for boys and girls, but the pattern of results differed by gender. In general, attachment anxiety was a more consistent predictor than avoidance of boys’ dating aggression, cognitions, and emotions, whereas anxiety and avoidance both acted as significant moderators for girls. These results suggest that youths’ romantic attachment style can amplify or attenuate the impact of family aggression on abusive behavior in dating relationships by influencing their beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and their ability to regulate anger

Parental Psychological Control and Autonomy Granting: Distinctions and Associations with Child and Family Functioning

Objective:This study utilized an observational coding scheme to identify parenting behavior reflecting psychological control and autonomy granting, and examined relations between these parenting dimensions and indices of child and family functioning. Design: A community sample of 90 preadolescents (aged 10.5 to 12 years) and both of their parents engaged in a triadic interaction that was coded for parental psychological control and autonomy granting. Participants also completed measures of child adjustment, interparental conflict, and triangulation. Results: Factor analyses indicated that a two-factor model better fit the data than a one-factor model, suggesting that psychological control and autonomy granting are best conceptualized as independent but related constructs. Parental psychological control and autonomy granting exhibited some shared and some unique correlates with indices of child and family functioning. Hierarchical regressions revealed significant interactions between these dimensions, suggesting that the strength of some associations between parents\u27 use of psychological control and youth adjustment problems depends on the level of autonomy granting exhibited by the parent. Conclusions: By examining psychological control and autonomy granting simultaneously as unique constructs, this study identifies patterns of psychological control and autonomy granting that undermine youth adjustment. Findings inform targeted intervention efforts for families of preadolescent youth

Advancing the Measurement of Violence: Challenges and Opportunities

Our understanding of the causes and consequences of violence depends on accurately defining and measuring the constructs we study. Although the methods used most often in violence research have led to a wealth of important findings, the field is ripe for both reflection and innovation. The purpose of this special issue is to highlight critical measurement issues in the study of violence and to describe innovative approaches that will move this research forward. In this Introduction to the special issue, we identify 3 challenges for the valid measurement of violence—defining constructs, accurately capturing responses in scoring, and diversifying measurement methods—and discuss how the 8 studies that constitute the issue address these challenges and identify promising directions for future work

Read-React-Respond: An integrative model for understanding sexual revictimization

Females who have been sexually abused in childhood are at significantly higher risk to be revictimized in adolescence and adulthood. Revictimization is associated with a raft of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, and so understanding why victims of childhood sexual abuse are more vulnerable to later sexual assaults has critical implications for their development. It has been hypothesized that sexual abuse in childhood results in reduced ability to recognize and/or respond effectively to sexual threats later in life, but studies examining these ideas have produced inconsistent results. Further, this research has failed to incorporate the powerful physiological reaction elicited by threats of imminent harm to the self, which has the potential to disrupt cognitive processing and coping behavior. In the present paper, we propose a model of revictimization that integrates contemporary theory and research on the biological stress response with cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors believed to be involved in adaptive responding to sexual threats. The model provides a conceptual guide for understanding why females with a history of sexual abuse are more vulnerable to revictimization and offers ideas for improving prevention programs designed to strengthen females’ ability to resist sexual coercion

Caregiver Behaviors Associated With Emotion Regulation in High-Risk Preschoolers

Children who witness violence are at risk for developing a range of developmental problems, including deficits in understanding and regulating. The ability to adaptively manage emotions is associated with children’s mental health and their social and academic competence; however, little is known about how parents of at-risk youth can foster the healthy development of emotion regulation. The current study aimed to identify specific parenting practices associated with adaptive emotion regulation in at-risk preschoolers. Multimethod, multi-informant data were collected from 124 caregiver-child dyads from Head Start programs. Results indicated that interparental aggression was negatively associated with caregivers’ and children’s emotion regulation, but there were specific caregiver behaviors that moderated the association between interparental aggression and children’s emotion regulation. Specifically, care- givers’ sensitivity to children’s emotions during play, listening effectively to children’s expression of sadness, and their own capacity for emotion regulation buffered the association between exposure to interparental aggression and children’s emotion regulation. These findings provide practical insight into how parents can promote resilience in children exposed to violence by fostering healthy emotional regulation

Emotional, Cognitive, and Family Systems Mediators of Children\u27s Adjustment to Interparental Conflict

Emotional, cognitive, and family systems processes have been identified as mediators of the association between interparental conflict and children\u27s adjustment. However, little is known about how they function in relation to one another because they have not all been assessed in the same study. This investigation examined the relations among children\u27s exposure to parental conflict, their appraisals of threat and blame, their emotional reaction, and triangulation into parental disagreements. One hundred fifty ethnically diverse 8- to 12-year-old children and both of their parents participated in the study. Comparisons of 3 models proposing different relations among these processes indicated that they function as parallel and independent mediators of children\u27s adjustment. Specifically, children\u27s self-blaming attributions and emotional distress were uniquely associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas perceived threat uniquely predicted internalizing problems and triangulation uniquely predicted externalizing problems