Adolescent dating violence is commonly experienced by adolescents and is associated with a variety of negative outcomes. Stress and coping and social learning theories suggest that dating violence victimization may predict increased substance use and dating violence perpetration. However, few studies have assessed these relations over time, and existing studies have not assessed physical and psychological dating violence victimization separately nor focused on early adolescent populations. The current study addressed these gaps by examining longitudinal relations between physical and psychological dating violence victimization and substance use and physical and psychological dating violence perpetration among early adolescents. The extent to which gender and class norms for dating violence moderated these relations was also examined. Participants included two cohorts of sixth grade students who reported being involved in a dating relationship at Waves 1 and 2 (N = 2,022; 43% female; 52% African American, 21% Latino/a, 20% European American, and 7% other). Analyses utilized a multilevel approach whereby students were represented at Level 1 and classes (scores for students in the same cohort and school; n = 74) at Level 2. Models tested direct effects from Wave 1 psychological and physical victimization to Wave 2 outcomes and the extent to which gender moderated this effect. Models including psychological and physical perpetration also tested cross-level interactions between Level 1 dating violence victimization and Level 2 class norms for dating violence. Key findings indicated that gender moderated relations between physical and psychological victimization and psychological perpetration. High levels of psychological victimization predicted greater change in psychological perpetration for girls as compared to boys and high levels of physical victimization predicted greater change in psychological perpetration for boys as compared to girls. Additionally, physical and psychological victimization significantly predicted changes in substance use. High levels of physical victimization predicted greater change in substance use, whereas high levels of psychological victimization predicted less change in substance use. These findings highlight the need to address dating violence early in middle school, so as to prevent negative outcomes associated with victimization by a dating partner.

The purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relations between anxious and depressive symptoms and two forms of peer victimization (i.e., overt and relational) within a sample of 358 predominantly African-American adolescents living in low-income urban areas across four years. Longitudinal path analyses tested progressively complex models for each type of victimization. For both overt and relational victimization the autoregressive model where only previous levels of each construct predicted future levels of the construct was the most parsimonious explanation. The best fitting model for both types of peer victimization suggested that internalizing symptoms helped to further explain future victimization, but victimization did not help to further explain future internalizing symptoms. Additionally, anxious symptoms were more uniquely important in predicting future peer victimization than depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that the patterns between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms may be missing an important predictor when anxiety is not considered.

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of emotions as predictors of children's coping responses to peer rejection experiences. This study also explored how children's emotional experience and coping behaviors were related to gender, peer socialization (i.e., receiving prosocial acts by peers and previous victimization experiences), and indices of psychopathology. Children ages 7-12 (N=53) completed questionnaires to assess emotional and coping responses to hypothetical peer rejection scenarios, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and peer experiences. Overall, findings suggested that emotion-related factors (emotion states and more stable "emotional tendencies" such as psychological symptoms) and social context (i.e., children's prosocial peer experiences and victimization) are important predictors of children's coping with peer rejection. Children's emotions predicted coping responses after controlling for peer experiences. Discrete emotions were uniquely associated with coping responses, indicating that coping responses are emotionally-driven. Finally, gender emerged as a predictor of children's emotions in response to rejection experiences. Girls were more likely than boys to anticipate feeling sad or worried inresponse to rejection. These findings provide an empirical foundation for future research and the development of interventions to facilitate adaptive reactions to peer rejection.

This dissertation examines reported campus crime at Virginia’s institutions of higher education. Utilizing secondary data and content analysis, the research seeks to determine the amount and types of crime occurring on Virginia campuses and which correlates explain such crimes. Three sources of campus crime statistics are included and scrutinized in detail, including the Clery Act statistics, Virginia Incident-Based Reporting statistics and campus crime logs. Regardless of data source, findings indicate that the vast majority of reported campus crime is comprised of property offenses. The research argues to separate analyses by campus police departments versus campus security departments for more meaningful findings. For multivariate analysis, the study employs campus crime logs as the outcome measure for reported campus crime. The results indicate that, in all models, percentage of students living on campus significantly contributes to the explanation and prediction of total, violent/personal, and property crime log offenses reported per 100 students at institutions with either campus police departments or security departments. Additionally, percentage male enrollment was found to significantly contribute to violent/personal offenses reported per 100 students at institutions with campus police departments. Implications of findings and recommendations for policy and future research are discussed.

Background: Physical Dating Violence (PDV) victimization is a major public health concern among adolescents in the United States. Research has shown that determinants of PDV victimization are different for male and female adolescents. However, inconsistent findings entail that further research needs to be done using a representative sample of male and female adolescents.Objective: To identify gender-specific determinants of PDV victimization utilizing a nationally representative sample of high school adolescents.Methods: Data from the 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey was used for this analysis. The study population included 6.951 male and 6,807 female students in grades 9 through 12. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted and three predictor models were generated. The first model examined predictors of PDV in the total population. The second and third models identified predictors of PDV in male and female participants, respectively.Results: PDV affects approximately 1 in every 11 youth in the United States, with males and females exhibiting prevalence rates (males: 9.0%, females: 9.2%). Being currently sexually active, using alcohol, engaging in a physical fight, experiencing sexual victimization, and having suicidal thoughts were significant predictors of PDV for both male and female participants. Poor body images were found to be a significant predictor among females but not in males. On the other hand, illicit drug use was a significant predictor among males but not in females.Conclusions: This study provided evidence that there is some gender difference in the determinants of PDV. It is essential that counselors and care providers give particular attention to female adolescents with poor body image and male adolescents who report illicit drug use.

Epidemiological research indicates that parents report lower levels of youths’ exposure to violence than youth self-report, and theory suggests that such discrepancies reflect parents’ lack of knowledge of youth victimization and impaired ability to help children cope with victimization. This study extends prior research examining the implications of parent-youth informant discrepancies on ratings of victimization. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to identify groups of dyads distinguished by patterns of parent and youth report of victimization, uncovering heterogeneity based on patterns of parent-youth ratings of victimization. Analyses examined how latent classes reflecting parent-youth agreement on victimization were related to adjustment (i.e., depression, aggression, and delinquency) concurrently and over time. Participants were youths ages 10-15 years and their mothers (N=1,339 dyads) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Parent and youth reports of six victimization events were used as the observed indicators in latent class analysis. Youths and parents completed parallel measures of adjustment (anxiety/depression and delinquency subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self Report) concurrently and at follow-up assessment (~2.5 years). This study compared three classes of youths: (a) Low Victimization (77.0%), (b) Youth > Parent (13.5%), and (c) Parent > Youth (8.1%). Concurrently, the class in which youths reported more victimization than parents (Youth > Parent) demonstrated higher levels of youth-reported depression, delinquency, and aggression. Longitudinally, however, this was not the case. In fact, the Parent >Youth class was more likely to show increased maladjustment, relative to the Youth > Parent class. Specifically, these youths showed increases in both youth- and parent- reported delinquent behavior, as well as parent-report of youth anxious/depressed behavior. In the absence of a gold standard to determine which informant is over- or under- reporting victimization, a person-centered approach can offer a unique framework for integrating informant reports. Moreover, discrepant perspectives can offer useful information for understanding the effects of victimization, as well as implications for prevention and intervention.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of protection of victims of crime. In the first chapter, by using the findings from the field of victimology, it describes victim as a phenomenon and also the process of victimisation while focusing on its causes and the negative impact it may have on victims. The author also summarizes the recent findings regarding the victims' needs. Lastly, some of the most common misconceptions about victims and their impact on the perception of victims are explained. The second chapter addresses the victim from the viewpoint of the law. Firstly, it examines the role which the EU plays in enhancing the standing of victims in the criminal procedure and also outside of it. Secondly, it examines the Act on victims of crime adopted in the Czech Republic. The Act on victims of crime and the particular rights of victims which are provided for in the Act are analysed in the second chapter with the use of the current findings in the field of victimology. The author also explains the main critiques of the Act such as the counter-productive wording of the right to receive information or a threat of corroding the criminal procedure as a whole. On the other hand, the benefits of the Act are also pointed out, such as reducing the threat of a secondary victimisation of victims, which...

INTRODUÇÃO: O consumo excessivo de álcool é considerado um grave problema de saúde pública e apontado como um importante facilitador das situações de violência, o que sugere uma forte associação entre a ingestão de bebidas alcoólicas e a vitimização por homicídio. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a associação entre o uso de álcool e a vitimização por homicídio em indivíduos autopsiados nos postos médico-legais do município de São Paulo. MÉTODOS: Dados de 2042 vítimas de homicídio no ano de 2005 foram levantados a partir dos laudos necroscópicos obtidos dos arquivos do Instituto Médico Legal de São Paulo. As informações coletadas foram: sexo, idade, grupo étnico, meio de perpetração da morte, concentração de álcool no sangue das vítimas e circunstâncias dos homicídios, como o local, data e horário da morte. RESULTADOS: O álcool estava presente em amostras de sangue de 43% das vítimas, com uma média de alcoolemia de 1,55 ± 0,86 g/l. A prevalência de alcoolemia positiva foi maior entre os homens (44,1%) do que entre as mulheres (26,6%), p<0,01. As armas de fogo causaram a maior parte das mortes (78,6%) e o consumo de álcool foi maior entre as vítimas de homicídio cujo meio utilizado foi a arma branca (p<0,01). Houve uma maior proporção de vítimas alcoolizadas aos finais de semana do que durante os dias da semana (56,4 e 38,5%, respectivamente; p<0,01) e foi encontrada uma correlação positiva entre as taxas de homicídio e a média de concentração de álcool no sangue para a área Central da cidade (rs=0,90; p<0,01). CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados demonstram a magnitude da influência do álcool como fator de contribuição para a vitimização por homicídio no maior centro urbano da América do Sul, fornecendo subsídios para políticas públicas e estudos futuros com o objetivo de prevenir os homicídios e a violência relacionada ao consumo de álcool. / INTRODUCTION: The excessive consumption of alcohol is a serious public health issue and a major factor in triggering violent situations, which suggests a strong association between alcohol ingestion and becoming a victim of homicide. The aim of this study was to assess the association between alcohol use and victimization by homicide in individuals autopsied at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Sao Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Data from 2,042 victims of homicides in 2005 were obtained from medical examiner reports. The victims gender, age, ethnicity, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) information were collected. The method of death and homicide circumstances, as well as the date, time and place of death were also studied. RESULTS: Alcohol was detected in blood samples of 43% of the victims, and mean BAC levels were 1.55 ± 0.86 g/L. The prevalence of positive BAC levels was higher among men (44.1%) than women (26.6%), p<0.01. Firearms caused most of the deaths (78.6%) and alcohol consumption was greater among victims of homicide by sharp weapons (p<0.01). A greater proportion of victims with positive BAC were killed on weekends compared to weekdays (56.4 and 38.5%, respectively; p<0.01), and the correlation between homicide rates and the average BAC for the central area of the city was positive (rs=0.90; p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight alcohol as a contributing factor for homicide victimization in the greatest urban center in South America, supporting public strategies and future research aiming to prevent homicides and violence related to alcohol consumption.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:20:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gelcimary Menegatti da Silva.pdf: 713014 bytes, checksum: aac0a1dc8ac09ff2b11ede59ff1df1d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / Violence, understood as the detrimental act of violating social rules to the extent of harming others, is present in our everyday lives. The subjects are affected by the violence present indirectly in the news which is heard, seen or read in the different means of communication, as well as present as witnesses of situations of external violence, and directly as in an episode in which they become victims. Currently, a number of researches have been carried out with the aim of investigating the impact of varied forms of violence such as negligence, sexual abuse and physical violence. However, a specific study can overestimate the consequences of only one type of violence and underestimate the influence of other forms. In the studies performed since 2005 using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ), whose objective is to map the quantity and co-occurrence of the victimizations, it was observed that polyvictim subjects, i.e., those who suffered four or more forms of violence in the previous year, presented worse levels of mental health, higher chances of being victims again or practicing violence, academic difficulties and higher vulnerability to adversities. Nevertheless, it is observed that some people, faced with difficult moments in their lives as the experience of violence, manage to continue their lives healthily, which can be due to the form of facing or coping used to manage the problem or the emotion coming from the source of stress. Research correlates positively the predominant use of coping focused on the problem to better levels of mental health. The teaching of these strategies can occur through varied ways, such as a cognitive-behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Therefore, this paper has as aim to analyze, based on theories of poly-victimization, coping and cognitive-behavioral approach, two clinic cases. The first one refers to a 31-year-old woman and the second, a child aged 3, both with experience of several episodes of violence. The sessions were divided in initial evaluation and intervention in the first case, and in initial evaluation, intervention and final evaluation in the second. According to the demand, in the psychotherapeutic intervention, Beck s cognitive therapy (1964) was used on the adult patient and analytical behavioral therapy on the juvenile patient. The results indicated better levels of mental health, higher frequency of usage of better adapted strategies, as those focused on the problem, and interruption of the victimization cycle. / A violência, entendida como o ato prejudicial de violar as regras sociais a ponto de prejudicar o próximo, está presente no nosso cotidiano. Os sujeitos são afetados pela violência presente indiretamente como nas notícias ouvidas, assistidas ou lidas por meio dos mais diferentes meios de comunicação, assim como presentes enquanto testemunhas de situações de violência externa, como também de maneira direta como num episódio em que se torna a vítima. Atualmente, muitas pesquisas têm surgido com o intuito de investigar o impacto das diversas formas de violência como a negligência, abuso sexual e violência física. No entanto, o estudo específico pode superestimar as consequências de apenas um tipo e subestimar a influência das outras formas de violência. Nos estudos realizados desde 2005 utilizando o Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) cujo objetivo é mapear a quantidade e co-ocorrências das vitimizações foram observados que os sujeito polivítimas, ou seja, aqueles que sofreram quatro ou mais formas de violência no ano anterior, apresentaram piores níveis de saúde mental, maiores chances de novamente serem vítimas ou praticar violência, dificuldades acadêmicas e maior vulnerabilidade as adversidades. No entanto, observa-se que algumas pessoas diante da vivência de momentos difíceis na vida como a experiência da violência, conseguem seguir suas vidas saudavelmente o que pode ser devido à forma de enfrentamento ou coping utilizadas para administrar o problema ou a emoção advindo da fonte estressora. Pesquisas correlacionam positivamente o uso predominante de coping focado no problema a melhores níveis de saúde mental. O ensino destas estratégias pode ocorrer por diversos meios como a psicoterapia de abordagem cognitivo-comportamental. Diante disso, este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar com base nas teorias de polivitimização, coping e abordagem cognitivo-comportamental dois casos clínicos. O primeiro se refere a uma mulher com 31 anos de idade e o segundo, uma criança com 3 anos de idade, ambos com experiência de vários episódios de violência. As sessões foram divididas em avaliação inicial e intervenção para o primeiro caso e avaliação inicial, intervenção e avaliação final para o segundo. De acordo com a demanda, utilizou-se na intervenção psicoterapêutica, a terapia cognitiva de Beck (1964) para a paciente adulta e terapia analítico-comportamental para o paciente infantil. Os resultados apontam melhores níveis de saúde mental, mais frequência do uso de estratégias mais adaptadas como as focadas no problema e quebra do ciclo de vitimizações.

Two serious adverse health effects of obesity are development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which may also lead to stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and non-traumatic amputations. Diabetes and obesity occur more commonly among U.S. African-American women than among white women. One postulated mechanism in the development of obesity and diabetes is disruption of the neuroendocrine system by chronic psychosocial stress. Using data from the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), we examined three psychosocial stressors more prevalent in African-American women than white women, and their possible contribution to the incidence of diabetes and obesity among African-American women. Study 1 examined perceived racism and incidence of diabetes over 16 years (1997–2013), among 45,781 women. Women with higher scores for perceived everyday or lifetime racism had greater risk of diabetes compared to women with lesser exposure. Mediation by BMI may have accounted for half of these associations. Study 2 examined abuse victimization with incidence of diabetes in adulthood over eight years (2005–2013), among 29,193 women. Compared to women reporting no abuse in their life span, there was an increased risk of diabetes among women who experienced abuse only during adolescence, or only adolescence and childhood. Higher frequency of sexual abuse or greater severity of abuse increased risk of diabetes. There was some evidence for mediation by BMI, and as a modifier; in stratified analyses overweight women experienced an increased risk of diabetes with childhood sexual abuse. Study 3 evaluated the association of night shift work and weight change over an eight year period (2005–2013), among 28,565 women. Stratified analyses showed BMI modified the association: normal and overweight women who worked a night shift gained significantly more weight than women who did not work a night shift; this was not found among obese women. Younger night shift workers who worked 10 or more years appeared to gain more weight than younger non-night shift workers. In conclusion, there is evidence that perceived racism, abuse, and night shift work may be psychosocial stressors whose downstream effects may contribute to type 2 diabetes and weight gain among African-American women.