Psychological and relational correlates of intimate partner violence profiles among pregnant adolescent couples

Romantic attachment and cyber dating violence in adolescence: A dyadic approach

INTRODUCTION

Little research has documented cyber dating violence (DV)-a type of teen DV with unique characteristics that has been associated with negative consequences. Attachment is central to understanding negative behaviors in the context of relationships and has been associated with other forms of DV in teens. This study used an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine how cyber-DV victimization and perpetration (direct aggression and control) relate to attachment anxiety and avoidance.

METHODS

An online questionnaire was completed by 126 adolescent couples (n = 252; mean age = 17.7) from Quebec, Canada.

RESULTS

In almost all couples (96%), at least one partner reported an incident of cyber-control in the previous year, while cyber-aggression was reported in 34% of couples. APIM results revealed that girls' and boys' victimization and perpetration of direct cyber-aggression are associated similarly with both their own high levels of attachment anxiety and their partner's. Concerning cyber-control, results show that boys' and girls' victimization is associated more with their partner's higher level of anxious attachment than their own. Girls' perpetration of cyber-control is associated with both their own high levels of attachment anxiety and their partner's, while for boys' perpetration, their own high levels of anxious attachment were found to play a significantly greater role than their girlfriend's. No significant associations were found for the dimension of avoidant attachment for both cyber-aggression and cyber-control whether perpetration or victimization.

CONCLUSION

These findings, which identify potential risk factors for victimization and perpetration of cyber-DV, have implications for research, intervention, and prevention.

Trauma Exposure and Intimate Partner Violence Among Young Pregnant Women in Liberia

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global threat to women's health and may be elevated among those exposed to traumatic events in post-conflict settings, such as Liberia. The purpose of this study was to examine potential mediators between lifetime exposure to traumatic events (i.e., war-related trauma, community violence) with recent experiences of IPV among 183 young, pregnant women in Monrovia, Liberia. Hypothesized mediators included mental health (depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms), insecure attachment style (anxious and avoidant attachment), and attitudes indicative of norms of violence (attitudes justifying wife beating). We tested a parallel multiple mediation model using the PROCESS method with bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapping to test confidence intervals (CI). Results show that 45% of the sample had experienced any physical, sexual, or emotional IPV in their lifetime, and 32% in the 2 months prior to the interview. Exposure to traumatic events was positively associated with recent IPV severity (β = .40, p < .01). Taken together, depression, anxious attachment style, and justification of wife beating significantly mediated the relationship between exposure to traumatic events and experience of IPV (β = .15, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.31]). Only anxious attachment style (β = .07, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.16]) and justification of wife beating (β = .05, 95% CI = [0.01, 0.16]) were identified as individual mediators. This study reinforces pregnancy as an important window for both violence and mental health screening and intervention for young Liberian women. Furthermore, it adds to our theoretical understanding of mechanisms in which long-term exposure to traumatic events may lead to elevated rates of IPV in Liberia, and points to the need for trauma-informed counseling and multilevel gender transformative public health approaches to address violence against women.

Dating Violence in Adolescence: Implications for Girls' Sexual Health

Adolescents in the United States are too often involved in relationships characterized by coercion and violence. An emerging body of research suggests that dating violence is linked with other health risks in adolescent relationships, particularly sexual risk behavior. The confluence of risks conferred by dating violence and sexual risk behavior are particularly acute for adolescent girls. Adolescent gynecology providers need to understand the nature of dating violence in adolescence and the ways in which dating violence and sexual risk behavior are mutually influential. This article reviews the literature on the links between dating violence and sexual risk in adolescent girls' relationships. The prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of dating violence in adolescence are discussed, followed by a review of the research linking dating violence and sexual risk, with a focus on common mechanisms underlying these relationship risk behaviors. The review concludes with implications for screening, prevention, intervention, and future directions for research.

Family-Centered Primary Care for Teen Parents and Their Children

Although the teen birth rate in the United States continues to decline, births remain disproportionately high among disadvantaged teens and teens of color. The vulnerabilities and resilience of teen parents are described from a historical context, with recommendations for advancing primary care of these families. We endorse comprehensive primary care and clinical practices that capitalize on the strengths and resilience of these families while recognizing the social inequities that compromise their health and development. To strengthen the bonds among young mothers, fathers, and children, we recommend family-centered primary care services that are of a youth- and father-friendly, nonstigmatizing, strength-based, and trauma-informed nature.

Child Maltreatment Typologies and Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a Danish National Study of Young Adults

The association between exposure to childhood maltreatment and subsequent intimate partner violence (IPV) has been well documented. Recently, there has been increased attention to IPV in adolescence and young adulthood, with studies demonstrating that IPV peaks in young adulthood. Data were collected from a Danish national study conducted by The Danish National Centre for Social Research in 2008 and 2009. A sample of 4,718 young adults (aged 24) was randomly selected using the total birth cohort of children born in 1984. Structured interviews were conducted with 2,980 participants equating to a response rate of 63%. Childhood maltreatment including emotional, sexual, and multiple abuse experiences and being female and a young parent were used to test the association with experiencing IPV victimization. Bivariate associations showed that all variables were significantly associated with experiencing IPV. When the variables were entered into a multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, being female indicated the strongest association (odds ratio [OR] = 13.96), followed by experiencing childhood sexual abuse (OR = 10.90) and experiencing multiple types of abuse (OR = 6.49). Results suggest that among the child maltreatment typologies, sexual abuse is the dominant factor associated with IPV. The current study extends the literature conducted on a young adult population by demonstrating that early adverse experiences and being female and a parent are associated with IPV in young adulthood. These findings suggest prevention programs should be targeted in early adolescence to support young people to establish and maintain positive and healthy relationships that promote safe conflict resolution strategies.

Potential Therapeutic Targets in People with Emotional Dependency

Objective:

To examine the relationship between the components of emotional dependency (ED) with anxious, depressive, and impulsive symptomatology.

Method:

98 university students (68% women, age M = 20.2 years, ED = 2.19) responded to the ED Questionnaire (EDQ) (Lemos & Londoño, 2006), the Beck Depression Inventory II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 2011), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck & Steer, 2011), and the short version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale BIS-15S (Spinella, 2007).

Results:

The structural model indicated that a fear of being alone is associated with separation anxiety, which in turn gives rise to plan modification (PM), search for emotional expression (SEE) and attention-seeking (AS). We found that PM was associated with depression, SEE with anxiety, and that impulsivity could lead to AS.

Conclusion:

These results identify potential therapeutic targets in people with ED.

Associations between intimate partner violence profiles and mental health among low-income, urban pregnant adolescents

Background

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes, including poor mental health. Previous IPV research has largely focused on women’s victimization experiences; however, evidence suggests young women may be more likely to engage in bilateral violence (report both victimization and perpetration) or perpetrate IPV (unilateral perpetration) during pregnancy than to report being victimized (unilateral victimization). This study examined prevalence of unilateral victimization, unilateral perpetration, and bilateral violence, and the association between these IPV profiles and mental health outcomes during pregnancy among young, low-income adolescents.

Methods

Survey data were collected from 930 adolescents (14–21 years; 95.4% Black and Latina) from fourteen Community Health Centers and hospitals in New York City during second and third trimester of pregnancy. Multivariable regression models tested the association between IPV profiles and prenatal depression, anxiety, and distress, adjusting for known predictors of psychological morbidity.

Results

Thirty-eight percent of adolescents experienced IPV during their third trimester of pregnancy. Of these, 13% were solely victims, 35% were solely perpetrators, and 52% were engaged in bilateral violence. All women with violent IPV profiles had significantly higher odds of having depression and anxiety compared to individuals reporting no IPV. Adolescents experiencing bilateral violence had nearly 4-fold higher odds of depression (OR = 3.52, 95% CI: 2.43, 5.09) and a nearly 5-fold increased likelihood of anxiety (OR = 4.98, 95% CI: 3.29, 7.55). Unilateral victims and unilateral perpetrators were also at risk for adverse mental health outcomes, with risk of depression and anxiety two- to three-fold higher, compared to pregnant adolescents who report no IPV. Prenatal distress was higher among adolescents who experienced bilateral violence (OR = 2.84, 95% CI: 1.94, 4.16) and those who were unilateral victims (OR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.12).

Conclusions

All violent IPV profiles were associated with adverse mental health outcomes among pregnant adolescents, with bilateral violence having the most detrimental associations. Comprehensive IPV screening for both victimization and perpetration experiences during pregnancy is warranted. Clinical and community prevention efforts should target pregnant adolescents and their partners to reduce their vulnerability to violence and its adverse consequences.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00628771. Registered 29 February 2008.

[Depression in women - the victims of domestic violence (forensic psychiatry aspects)]

AIM

To study the development of depressive disorders in women, the victims of domestic violence, who committed aggressive acts.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Patients (n=12) were divided into two groups depending on acute depressive reaction in response to violence from husbands, which resulted in criminal acts. The first group included 4 women who killed their children and the second group included 8 women who killed their husbands. A psychopathological method was used in the study.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Women of both groups shared the same features of the development of depression: the transition from a neurotic stage to a psychotic stage (with aggression) and then to the prolonged depression. Every stage had its own features, in particular during the criminal act, which are described in the article.

Abuse as a risk factor for prenatal depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis

Depression is the most common mental disorder in pregnancy. An important risk factor in the development of prenatal depression is lifetime history of abuse. The current review quantitatively synthesized research on the association between history of abuse and prenatal depressive symptoms using a meta-analytic technique. A total of 3322 articles were identified through electronic searches of the following databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE Cochrane Collaboration databases between the years of 1980 and 2016. All were independently screened against the following inclusion criteria: articles reporting on original data that included measures of prenatal depression and abuse. Data were extracted by the first and second authors. Descriptive analyses were conducted using Excel version 15.32, and all analyses involving effect sizes were conducted using comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) version 3.0. Seventy articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analyses. Meta-bias detected no publication bias. Abuse had a significant positive relation with prenatal depressive symptoms, with effect sizes in the moderate range for any abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.287), physical abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.271), sexual abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.259), and emotional abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.340; Cohen 1969. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic Press, New York). The meta-analyses found a robust relation between abuse and prenatal depressive symptoms holding across a variety of demographic and study design characteristics. These results reinforce the established association between trauma victimization and subsequent psychopathology, extending current knowledge to specifically address the under-studied area of prenatal depression. These findings highlight the need for women who have survived child or adulthood abuse to receive appropriate referral and psychological treatment to mitigate their risk for prenatal depression.

Exploring Relationships: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is an important public health challenge. In recent years, there has been a greater awareness concerning this phenomenon, its causes and consequences. Due to the relational nature of IPV, attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) appears a useful framework to read the phenomenon and to better understand its components and its dynamics to provide more precise and tailored interventions in the future. Purpose: To summarize our knowledge of the research concerning IPV and attachment with an aim to better design and implement future research. Methods: Computer database researches were conducted using the following databases: Psychinfo, Psycharticle, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed (all years to the 01/02/2018). Search terms were compiled into two concepts for all database namely Attachment and IPV. Results: After removing the duplicates, a total of 3,598 records was screened, resulting in the identification of 319 full-text articles to be further scrutinized. Upon closer examination, there was consensus that 113 of those studies met the study inclusion criteria. Data was organized considering specifically studies concerning (1) IPV victimization and attachment, (2) IPV perpetration and attachment (both these sections were articulated in Physical, Psychological, and Sexual IPV), and (3) New research (comprising same-sex couples, IPV and attachment in couple contexts and IPV profiles and attachment among perpetrators). Conclusion: A number of studies failed to find significant associations between insecure attachment and IPV victimization or perpetration. Additional research is needed to provide a greater understanding of different IPV forms and to aid in the development of prevention and treatment interventions.