A Qualitative Analysis of How Individuals Utilized the Twitter Hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo to Comment on the Perpetration of Interpersonal Violence

The present study examined how individuals describe the nature of interpersonal violence perpetrated against them using the Twitter hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo. Iterative qualitative coding of 437 tweets resulted in four major themes (i.e., the nature of violence and tactics utilized, the identity of the perpetrator, the location of the assault, and whether the perpetrator was held accountable). Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator identity included whether the perpetrator was known, as well as perpetrator gender identity. Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator tactic included the presence of multiple perpetrators, whether the assault was a crime of opportunity, engagement in physical aggression, utilization of psychological abuse, perpetration of sexual abuse, substance use at the time of the assault (victim and/or perpetrator), whether the abuse persisted, and whether the perpetrator used a weapon. Findings contradict stereotypes that frame interpersonal violence as a single occurrence committed by a stranger who planned an attack using a weapon

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, and Competence on the Objectifying Gaze in Men

Despite literature revealing the adverse consequences of objectifying gazes for women, little work has empirically examined origins of objectifying gazes by perceivers. Integrating alcohol myopia and objectification theories, we examined the effects of alcohol as well as perceived female attractiveness, warmth, and competence on objectifying gazes. Specifically, male undergraduates (n = 49) from a large U.S. Midwestern university were administered either an alcoholic or placebo beverage. After consumption, participants were asked to focus on the appearance or personality (counterbalanced) of pictured women who were previously rated as high, average, or low in attractiveness, warmth, and competence. Replicating previous work, appearance focus increased objectifying gazes as measured by decreased visual dwell time on women’s faces and increased dwell time on women’s bodies. Additionally, alcohol increased objectifying gazes. Whereas greater perceived attractiveness increased objectifying gazes, more perceived warmth and perceived competence decreased objectifying gazes. Furthermore, the effects of warmth and competence perceptions on objectifying gazes were moderated by alcohol condition; intoxicated participants objectified women low in warmth and competence to a greater extent than did sober participants. Implications for understanding men’s objectifying perceptions of women are addressed, shedding light on potential interventions for clinicians and policymakers to reduce alcohol-involved objectification and related sexual aggression

Expanding Mental Health Consultation in Early Head Start: Recommendations for Supporting Home Visitors in Increasing Parental Engagement

Early Head Start strongly emphasizes the importance of intervening with the entire family to promote healthy child development. Parents, in particular, are recognized as their child’s most important teacher. While Early Head Start performance standards currently mandate mental health consultation to identify and intervene with child mental health problems, there is little direct focus on the role of consultation in managing parental mental health concerns. This is problematic given that a wide body of literature outlines the impact of parental mental health on engagement in home-based programs such as Early Head Start. Investigations within the home visiting field have also shown persistent requests from staff for further support in addressing these barriers to engagement. Mental health professionals can be instrumental in providing support and education to home visitors dealing with parental mental health concerns, although formal guidelines are generally silent on best practices for establishing and maintaining effective consultation relationships. This Dialog from the Field discusses the issues posed to family engagement by parent-related problems such as mental illness. Synthesizing experience from consultation provided to an Early Head Start program with research from the field, we present a model expanding mental health consultation to address parent and family concerns

Engaging Male Bystanders to Reduce Sexual Aggression: The Effects of Online Training and Bystander Alcohol Intoxication

Bystander training is a form of sexual assault prevention that encourages bystanders— third-party individuals who are present when someone is at risk for sexual violence—to intervene in these scenarios. Although bystander training is most often delivered in-person, recent findings suggest that online formats may also be effective in training bystanders to prevent sexual violence (Kleinsasser, Jouriles, McDonald, & Rosenfield, 2014). Although bystander training programs show promise in reducing sexual assault (Banyard, Moynihan, Cares, & Warner, 2014), evaluations of these interventions have relied largely on self-report methods to measure primary outcomes (i.e., bystander efforts to intervene). Sole reliance on self-report as a means of evaluating outcomes is problematic in part because individuals who undergo bystander training may over-report their helping behaviors, which they have been trained to recognize as the ideal. Direct observation of bystander behaviors may allow for stronger conclusions about the effectiveness of bystander training programs. Additionally, researchers have yet to investigate how alcohol intoxication may influence the likelihood of a bystander taking action. Alcohol intoxication has a myopic effect on cognitive and attentional processes (Steele & Josephs, 1990), which may impact bystanders’ ability to notice and intervene effectively in sexual risk situations. The present project investigates the unique and interactive effects of an online bystander training program and alcohol intoxication on men’s actual bystander behaviors observed in a laboratory setting. Results indicate that participation in an online bystander training program resulted in increased attempts and successful bystander prevention and interruption of sexual aggression during a laboratory analogue. Bystander alcohol intoxication impaired bystander assertiveness and successful bystander prevention and interruption of sexual aggression when participants were given an opportunity to intervene. Unexpectedly, alcohol intoxication did not moderate associations between the online bystander intervention and bystander behaviors. Knowledge gained from this study may enhance the development of programs to engage men as active bystanders to reduce sexual assault by shedding light on the effects of participation in a bystander training program and acute alcohol intoxication on actual bystander behaviors

Engaging Male Bystanders to Reduce Sexual Aggression: The Effects of Online Training and Bystander Alcohol Intoxication

Bystander training is a form of sexual assault prevention that encourages bystanders— third-party individuals who are present when someone is at risk for sexual violence—to intervene in these scenarios. Although bystander training is most often delivered in-person, recent findings suggest that online formats may also be effective in training bystanders to prevent sexual violence (Kleinsasser, Jouriles, McDonald, & Rosenfield, 2014). Although bystander training programs show promise in reducing sexual assault (Banyard, Moynihan, Cares, & Warner, 2014), evaluations of these interventions have relied largely on self-report methods to measure primary outcomes (i.e., bystander efforts to intervene). Sole reliance on self-report as a means of evaluating outcomes is problematic in part because individuals who undergo bystander training may over-report their helping behaviors, which they have been trained to recognize as the ideal. Direct observation of bystander behaviors may allow for stronger conclusions about the effectiveness of bystander training programs. Additionally, researchers have yet to investigate how alcohol intoxication may influence the likelihood of a bystander taking action. Alcohol intoxication has a myopic effect on cognitive and attentional processes (Steele & Josephs, 1990), which may impact bystanders’ ability to notice and intervene effectively in sexual risk situations. The present project investigates the unique and interactive effects of an online bystander training program and alcohol intoxication on men’s actual bystander behaviors observed in a laboratory setting. Results indicate that participation in an online bystander training program resulted in increased attempts and successful bystander prevention and interruption of sexual aggression during a laboratory analogue. Bystander alcohol intoxication impaired bystander assertiveness and successful bystander prevention and interruption of sexual aggression when participants were given an opportunity to intervene. Unexpectedly, alcohol intoxication did not moderate associations between the online bystander intervention and bystander behaviors. Knowledge gained from this study may enhance the development of programs to engage men as active bystanders to reduce sexual assault by shedding light on the effects of participation in a bystander training program and acute alcohol intoxication on actual bystander behaviors

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, and Competence on the Objectifying Gaze in Men

Despite literature revealing the adverse consequences of objectifying gazes for women, little work has empirically examined origins of objectifying gazes by perceivers. Integrating alcohol myopia and objectification theories, we examined the effects of alcohol as well as perceived female attractiveness, warmth, and competence on objectifying gazes. Specifically, male undergraduates (n = 49) from a large U.S. Midwestern university were administered either an alcoholic or placebo beverage. After consumption, participants were asked to focus on the appearance or personality (counterbalanced) of pictured women who were previously rated as high, average, or low in attractiveness, warmth, and competence. Replicating previous work, appearance focus increased objectifying gazes as measured by decreased visual dwell time on women’s faces and increased dwell time on women’s bodies. Additionally, alcohol increased objectifying gazes. Whereas greater perceived attractiveness increased objectifying gazes, more perceived warmth and perceived competence decreased objectifying gazes. Furthermore, the effects of warmth and competence perceptions on objectifying gazes were moderated by alcohol condition; intoxicated participants objectified women low in warmth and competence to a greater extent than did sober participants. Implications for understanding men’s objectifying perceptions of women are addressed, shedding light on potential interventions for clinicians and policymakers to reduce alcohol-involved objectification and related sexual aggression

Expanding Mental Health Consultation in Early Head Start: Recommendations for Supporting Home Visitors in Increasing Parental Engagement

Early Head Start strongly emphasizes the importance of intervening with the entire family to promote healthy child development. Parents, in particular, are recognized as their child’s most important teacher. While Early Head Start performance standards currently mandate mental health consultation to identify and intervene with child mental health problems, there is little direct focus on the role of consultation in managing parental mental health concerns. This is problematic given that a wide body of literature outlines the impact of parental mental health on engagement in home-based programs such as Early Head Start. Investigations within the home visiting field have also shown persistent requests from staff for further support in addressing these barriers to engagement. Mental health professionals can be instrumental in providing support and education to home visitors dealing with parental mental health concerns, although formal guidelines are generally silent on best practices for establishing and maintaining effective consultation relationships. This Dialog from the Field discusses the issues posed to family engagement by parent-related problems such as mental illness. Synthesizing experience from consultation provided to an Early Head Start program with research from the field, we present a model expanding mental health consultation to address parent and family concerns

Expanding Mental Health Consultation in Early Head Start: Recommendations for Supporting Home Visitors in Increasing Parental Engagement

Early Head Start strongly emphasizes the importance of intervening with the entire family to promote healthy child development.  Parents, in particular, are recognized as their child’s most important teacher.  While Early Head Start performance standards currently mandate mental health consultation to identify and intervene with child mental health problems, there is little direct focus on the role of consultation in managing parental mental health concerns.  This is problematic given that a wide body of literature outlines the impact of parental mental health on engagement in home-based programs such as Early Head Start.  Investigations within the home visiting field have also shown persistent requests from staff for further support in addressing these barriers to engagement.  Mental health professionals can be instrumental in providing support and education to home visitors dealing with parental mental health concerns, although formal guidelines are generally silent on best practices for establishing and maintaining effective consultation relationships.  This Dialog from the Field discusses the issues posed to family engagement by parent-related problems such as mental illness.  Synthesizing experience from consultation provided to an Early Head Start program with research from the field, we present a model expanding mental health consultation to address parent and family concerns

Integrated Alcohol Use and Sexual Assault Prevention Program for College Men Who Engage in Heavy Drinking: Randomized Pilot Study

BackgroundSexual assault is prevalent on college campuses and most commonly is perpetrated by men. Problematically, there is a dearth of evidence-based prevention programs targeting men as perpetrators of sexual aggression. The Sexual Assault and Alcohol Feedback and Education (SAFE) program is an integrated alcohol and sexual assault prevention intervention for college men who engage in heavy drinking that aims to address sexual aggression proclivity and alcohol use outcomes by incorporating social norms theory, bystander intervention, and motivational interviewing. ObjectiveThis study aims to examine the initial feasibility-, acceptability-, and efficacy-related outcomes of a randomized pilot trial of an integrated alcohol and sexual assault prevention program for college men who engage in heavy drinking. MethodsThis study included 115 college men who engaged in heavy drinking, who were randomly assigned to the SAFE program or a mindfulness-based control condition (MBCC). The feasibility of implementation, adequacy of participant retention, fidelity and competency of program administration, and satisfaction and utility of the intervention were evaluated. The primary outcomes of alcohol use and sexual aggression were evaluated at 2 and 6 months after baseline. The secondary outcomes of perceived peer norms, risks for sexual aggression, and bystander intervention were also assessed. The extent to which the motivational interviewing session with personalized normative feedback facilitated changes in the proximal outcomes of drinking intentions, motivation to change, and self-efficacy was also examined. ResultsThe study procedures resulted in high program completion and retention (>80%), high fidelity to the program manual (>80% of the content included), high competency in program administration, and high ratings of satisfaction and program utility in addressing sexual relationships and alcohol use. Both groups reported declines in the number of drinks per week and number of heavy drinking days. Compared with the MBCC participants, the SAFE participants reported higher motivation to change alcohol use after the program, as well as greater use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies at 6 months. Compared with the MBCC participants, the SAFE participants also reported lower perceived peer engagement in sexual coercion, perceived peer comfort with sexism, and peer drinking norms at 2 and 6 months. However, no group differences were observed in sexual aggression severity, rape myth acceptance, or the labeling of sexual consent. Results regarding bystander intervention intentions were mixed, with the MBCC group showing decreased intentions at 2 months and the SAFE group reporting increased intentions at both 2 and 6 months. ConclusionsThe findings provide promising evidence for the feasibility, acceptability, utility, and preliminary efficacy of the SAFE program in reducing alcohol use and positively influencing perceived peer norms and intentions for bystander intervention among college men who drink. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05773027; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT0577302