Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at increased risk for interpersonal violence victimization compared to heterosexual youth. The current study examined how self-reported victimization (i.e., bullying, sexual harassment and dating violence) among middle school youth varied as a function of sexual/romantic attraction as well as gender identity. Cross-sectional data were gathered from students at seven middle schools in New England (n = 2245). Mean comparisons with post-hoc Tukey tests determined differences in rates of past 6-month and lifetime interpersonal violence victimization by sexual/romantic attraction and the intersection of gender and attraction. As hypothesized, interpersonal violence victimization among middle school youth differed as a function of sexual/romantic attraction as well as gender. To date, most research has focused on older samples, particularly high-school youth and young adults. These data are consistent with these prior studies documenting increased risk for interpersonal violence victimization among youth who indicate same-gender attraction but add to the literature in demonstrating the expansive forms of peer victimization that same-gender-attracted youth already experience by early adolescence. Given that victimization is associated acutely and longitudinally with many deleterious outcomes, including poorer mental health and increased risk for subsequent victimization, greater structural supports are needed for early adolescent SMY.

INTRODUCTION: Alternative measurement approaches for adverse childhood experiences (i.e., count score versus individual adverse childhood experiences measured dichotomously versus individual adverse childhood experiences measured ordinally) can alter the association between adverse childhood experiences and adverse outcomes. This could significantly impact the interpretation of adverse childhood experiences research. METHODS: Data were collected in 2018 (analyzed in 2020) via Amazon's Mechanical Turk and from people incarcerated in 4 correctional facilities (N=1,451). Included adverse childhood experience questions measured the following: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; household mental illness, substance use, domestic violence, and incarceration; and exposure to community violence before age 18 years. A total of 19 measured outcomes spanned 4 domains of functioning: general functioning, substance use, psychopathology, and criminal behavior. RESULTS: Regression models using the count score explained the least amount of variance in outcomes, whereas multivariable regression models assessing adverse childhood experiences on a continuum explained the most variance. In many instances, the explained variance increased by 2-5 times across the predictive models. When comparing regression coefficients for multivariable regression models that measured adverse childhood experiences as binary versus ordinal, there were notable differences in the effect sizes and in which adverse childhood experiences predicted outcomes. Disparities in results were most pronounced among high-risk populations that experience a disproportionate amount of adverse childhood experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Alternative methods of measuring adverse childhood experiences can influence understanding of their true impact. These findings suggest that the deleterious effects of imprecise measurement methods may be most pronounced in the populations most at risk of adverse childhood experiences. For the sake of prevention, the measurement of adverse childhood experiences must evolve.

Despite declining rates over the past several decades, violence continues to be a pervasive public health problem. To date, we have very little knowledge about the factors at the outer layers of the social ecology that may serve to protect or exacerbate violence. The purpose of the present research is to identify community-level risk and protective correlates of multiple forms of violent crime. Official crime data were collected from 36 of the municipalities (92%) across the state of Rhode Island. Additionally, the research team identified 23 types of community establishments and identified the number of each for each of the 36 municipalities. Semi-partial correlations were computed between the 23 community variables and each of nine types of violent crimes. While there were a number of significant results, only a few meaningful patterns were found. The number of transit stations was associated with all forms of sexual violence, sex trafficking, and general physical assault. Gun dealers were associated with domestic assault, child abuse, kidnapping, and assault with a weapon, but inversely related to sex trafficking. Boys and Girls Clubs were negatively associated with the number of assaults, assaults with a weapon, sexual assaults, sexual assaults on a child, sex trafficking, and kidnappings. Contrary to prior findings, the number of alcohol outlets was generally unrelated to violent crime. These findings must be interpreted with great caution given nature of the research design. However, this study provides an initial step to advance the research on community-level risk and protective factors for violence.

INTRODUCTION: Few societal-level factors are established as risk or protective factors for sexual violence. Traditional gender norms and gender inequality are linked to sexual violence, but much of this research was conducted internationally or is becoming outdated and may not reflect current norms in the U.S. This study expands on previously published research by examining gender inequality's association with state-level sexual violence. METHODS: Using state-level prevalence estimates published in the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010-2012 State Report and the Gender Inequality Index, Pearson correlations were examined to investigate the relationship between state-level gender inequality and lifetime victimization for various types of sexual violence among U.S. female and male adults. The analysis was conducted in 2019. RESULTS: Findings indicate that states with a high degree of gender inequality also report higher prevalence estimates among women for rape using physical force. Gender inequality was also negatively correlated with noncontact unwanted sexual experiences among women and men. In addition, an exploratory analysis of the relationship between individual indicators of gender inequality and violence outcomes suggest that the adolescent birth rate, female government representation, and labor force participation demonstrate an association with certain state-level violence outcomes, although the patterns were inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS: Although this study relied on cross-sectional data, collectively, these findings suggest that gender inequality may represent an important societal-level factor associated with sexual violence among women and men. However, this relationship appears complex and requires further research. These findings have potential to inform population-level violence prevention approaches.

Gender role discrepancy (GRD), or nonconformity to socially prescribed gender roles, has been linked to a multitude of adverse mental and behavioral health outcomes. Masculine discrepancy stress (MDS), stress about being perceived not to conform to one's gender role, may explain the relationship between GRD and deleterious health outcomes. However, research on MDS has primarily been restricted to adult males. This leaves a critical gap pertaining to the potential effect of MDS on adolescent boys, who may be more malleable and susceptible to the influence and pressures of gender socialization. In the current study, data are drawn from a sample of adolescent male students (N = 592) who completed self-report questionnaires. We employed structural equation modeling to test the effects of GRD and MDS on psychosocial maladjustment measured via sexual behavior, substance use, violence, mood disorder symptoms, and hopelessness. In addition, we controlled for critical risk factors including sociodemographic characteristics, adverse childhood experiences, trauma symptoms, and neighborhood disorganization. Findings indicate significant potentiating effects of MDS on maladjustment while there were direct protective effects of GRD. These data suggest that developing prevention strategies that incorporate social norms pertaining to gender socialization may have an impact on multiple behavioral and mental health problems.

Intimate partner violence (IPV), teen dating violence (TDV), and sexual violence (SV) constitute a major public health problem within the United States. More than 37 million men and 43 million women have experienced contact SV, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their life-time; 25.5 million women and 2.8 million men have been the victims of completed or attempted rape at some point in their lives (Smith et al., 2018). Furthermore, in 2017, 8.0% of high school students reported experiencing physical dating violence and 6.9% reported sexual dating violence in the last year (Kann et al., 2018). Both IPV and SV are associated with multiple negative health impacts and related costs to society, with recent studies suggesting an estimated lifetime economic burden of US $3.6 trillion for IPV and US $3.1 trillion for rape (Peterson, DeGue, Florence, & Lokey, 2017; Peterson et al., 2018). There are numerous efforts and strategies implemented to prevent and reduce these acts of violence; however, the few that have been evaluated and shown to be effective focus on individual- or relationship-level factors and have limited population impact due to difficulty in scaling up these strategies (Spivak et al., 2014; Whitaker, Hall, & Coker, 2009; Whitaker, Murphy, Eckhardt, Hodges, & Cowart, 2013). To this end, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has prioritized the development and evaluation of innovative prevention strategies for IPV, TDV, and SV to have a population-level impact (CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2015).

Paid parental leave policies have the potential to strengthen economic supports, reduce family discord, and provide opportunities to empower women (Basile et al., 2016; Niolon et al., 2017). In this article, we present a theory of change and evidence to suggest how paid parental leave may impact intimate partner violence (IPV). In doing so, we present three mechanisms of change (i.e., reduction in financial stress, increase in egalitarian parenting practices, and promotion of child/parent bonding) through which paid parental leave could reduce rates of IPV. We also describe limitations of the current state of knowledge in this area, as well as opportunities for future research. Ultimately, our goal is to facilitate the identification and implementation of approaches that have the potential to reduce violence at the population level. Paid parental leave embodies the potential of policies to change societal-level factors and serve as an important prevention strategy for IPV.

Purpose – That psychopathy imposes substantial societal costs and economic burden is axiomatic, but monetization studies have overlooked cost estimates of the disorder. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study devised new crime cost measures for self-reported offending. Findings – Youth imposed $30 million in total costs annually in large part due to extensive involvement in robbery, theft, and assault. The most criminally active youth imposed costs in excess of $700 million. Psychopathy features were differentially correlated with crime costs. APSD-SR callous-unemotional traits, mPPI-SF Blame Externalization, mPPI-SF Machiavellian Egocentricity, and mPPI-SF Social Potency were significantly associated with between four and five crime costs. Psychopathic traits associated with ruthless self-interest, callousness, and expectations to control and dominate others manifest in diverse ways including serious violence and repeated property crime. Other features such as mPPI-SF Impulsive Nonconformity, mPPI-SF Stress Immunity, mPPI-SF Coldheartedness, mPPI-SF Carefree Nonplanfulness, mPPI-SF Fearlessness, APSD-SR Impulsivity, and APSD-SR Narcissism had limited associations with crime costs. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, this is the first monetization study to quantify the effects of assorted psychopathy features on crime costs.

Discrepancy stress, stress about being perceived to not conform to one's gender role (i.e., gender role discrepancy), has demonstrated effects on risky sexual and violent behaviors. However, evidence of these effects has been limited to men and boys, neglecting the impact gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress may have on girls. In addition, no study to date, has assessed the mental health correlates of gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress. In the current study, we sought to elucidate the relationship between perceived feminine discrepancy and feminine discrepancy stress and psychosocial maladjustment while controlling for trauma symptoms stemming from the potential repercussions of feminine discrepancy. Maladjustment was measured by creating a second-order latent factor derived from four first-order latent constructs: sexual behavior, substance use, mood disorder symptoms, and hopelessness. Data are drawn from a cross-sectional sample of female students in middle and high school (N = 643) who completed self-report questionnaires. Using structural equation modeling, we found girls reporting feminine discrepancy (i.e., less feminine than the average girl) were more likely to report feminine discrepancy stress and trauma symptomatology. Controlling for feminine discrepancy and trauma symptoms, the relationship between discrepancy stress and maladjustment was positive and significant. Additionally, girls reporting feminine discrepancy scored higher on trauma symptomatology, and trauma demonstrated a strong direct effect on psychosocial maladjustment. These data suggest that developing trauma focused prevention strategies that incorporate social norms around gender socialization may have an impact on multiple behavioral and mental health problems.

OBJECTIVE: Prior research with youth exposed to violence suggests that, in this high-risk population, boys may be victims of sexual teen dating violence (TDV) and injury as frequently as girls. We sought to replicate these findings with a demographically similar sample and to determine whether the findings could be attributed the high-risk nature of the sample by assessing the impact of violence exposure on sex differences. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 2577 youth (ages 11-18, M=15.4, SD=1.9, 52% female, 25% Caucasian) collected in 2004 from a high-risk community reported on history of dating and exposure to multiple forms of violence. We conducted moderation analyses to test whether polyvictimization (PV) and age moderated the potential sex differences in perpetration and victimization of sexual TDV and injury. RESULTS: No significant sex differences in victimization were observed regardless of degree of PV. Boys reported more frequent sexual TDV and injury perpetration relative to girls, but only for youth reporting high degree of PV. There were no sex differences in perpetration among low PV youth. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest boys from high-risk communities may disproportionately perpetrate severe acts of TDV but at this early age they are equally likely to be victimized. To interrupt the cycle of violence victimization and perpetration, comprehensive violence prevention interventions targeting high-risk youth should be implemented at schools, in homes, and in the community; and they should recognize the potential for girls and boys to be victims of even the most severe forms of TDV.

In the present study, we assess the effects of the Expect Respect Support Groups (ERSG) on frequency of teen dating violence (TDV) and general youth violence. ERSG is a school-based violence prevention program for youth who have been exposed to violence in their home, school, or community. Boys and girls (N=1,678, Mage=14.3, S.D.=1.7, Range=11-17) from 36 schools in Texas participated in this accelerated longitudinal (7-year trajectory) study beginning in 2011. Latent growth curve analyses were conducted using three waves of data from three cross-sectional cohorts of adolescents. Among boys, the number of ERSG sessions attended related to incremental declines in psychological TDV perpetration and victimization, physical TDV victimization, sexual TDV perpetration and victimization, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression. Girls attending ERSG demonstrated reductions in reactive and proactive aggression. The present findings suggest ERSG may be an effective cross-cutting strategy to reduce TDV and other forms of violence among high-risk boys and possibly girls. This information provides valuable understanding of TDV and youth violence in high-risk populations and may be useful in tailoring future prevention efforts to different groups of teens.

Psychopathic traits are a manifestation of a personality pathology that comprises a core affective-interpersonal dysfunction (callous-unemotional traits) and an impulsive-antisocial behavioral component. Of particular importance, psychopathic traits are associated with the perpetration of some of the most severe acts of violence, and they appear to indicate a subset of youth at risk for earlier onset, greater frequency, and persistence of violent offending. Although these youth represent a minority of the population, they commit a significant proportion of the violence in the general community. In our review, we highlight evidence of a unique neurobiological predisposition that underlies the core affective deficits and describe contemporary accounts for the developmental processes leading to the antisocial behavior associated with psychopathy. Current evidence suggests that, for this subset of youth, the structure and function of neural circuitry supporting emotion processing, reward learning, decision making, and the development of emotion related to empathy may be crucial to understanding why they are at risk for violence. In particular, a reward dominant pattern of neurobehavioral conditioning may explain how these youth progress to some of the most severe and persistent forms of violence. However, this pattern of conditioning may also be essential to the primary prevention of such deleterious behavior. We suspect that effective strategies to prevent such violence may ultimately be informed by understanding these affective and motivational mechanisms.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are growing fields that provide job stability, financial security, and health prosperity for professionals in these fields. Unfortunately, females are underrepresented in STEM, which is potentially both a consequence and precipitant of gender inequity in the United States. In addition to the financial and health benefits, increasing the number of girls and women in STEM fields may also indirectly prevent and/or reduce teen dating violence and intimate partner violence by: (1) increasing women's financial independence, thereby reducing dependence on potentially abusive partners; (2) decreasing household poverty and financial stress, which may lead to reductions in relationship discord; and (3) increasing attitudes and beliefs about women as equals, thereby increasing gender equity. In this commentary, we discuss the potential role of primary and secondary school STEM programs in reducing violence against women. We review the literature on existing evaluations of STEM programs for educational outcomes, discuss the limitations of these evaluations, and offer suggestions for future research.

The present research explores the additive and interactive effects of anger or hostility (A/H), acceptance of violence (AoV), and constructive conflict resolution strategies (CRS) on the perpetration of physical and sexual teen dating violence (TDV). Adolescents completed surveys assessing physical and sexual TDV perpetration, A/H, AoV, and positive CRS. While the findings require replication with longitudinal data, the results suggest that developing interventions to modify AoV and A/H may have the potential to prevent instances of TDV perpetration among both boys and girls. The results for CRS were mixed and necessitate further exploration. These cross-sectional data provide insight into potentially fruitful areas of exploration for the development and tailoring of prevention strategies for teens at risk for physical and sexual TDV perpetration.

INTRODUCTION: Although recognized as a public health problem, little attention has been paid to the problem of stalking among youth. Latent profile analysis was used to identify latent groups of adolescent stalking victims and their behavioral and mental health correlates. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 1,236 youths were randomly selected from 13 schools stratified by community risk level (i.e., low, moderate, and high risk) and gender. Students completed surveys assessing behavioral indicators of stalking victimization, as well as substance use, sexual behavior, dating violence, and psychiatric symptoms. Data were collected in 2013 and data analyses were performed in 2015. RESULTS: Analysis indicated the presence of a non-victim class, a minimal exposure class, and a victim class for boys and girls alike. Approximately 14% of girls and 13% of boys were in the stalking victim class. Adolescents in the victim class reported more symptoms of post-traumatic stress, mood disorder, and hopelessness, as well as more instances of alcohol use, binge drinking, and physical dating violence victimization. Girls in the victim class also reported engaging in sexting behaviors and oral sex with significantly more partners than their non-victim peers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide valuable knowledge of the prevalence and pertinent health correlates of stalking victimization in adolescence. The data suggest a substantial proportion of adolescents are victims of stalking and are likewise at risk for a number of deleterious health outcomes. As such, this population merits further attention by prevention researchers and practitioners.

Stalking perpetration and the associated risk for violence among adolescents has generally been neglected. In the present study, 1236 youth completed surveys assessing empirically established stalking indicators, threats and aggression toward stalking victims, dating violence, and violent delinquency. Latent Profile Analysis identified 3 latent classes of boys: non-perpetrators (NP), hyper-intimate pursuit (HIP), and comprehensive stalking perpetrators (CSP) and, and 2 classes for girls: NP and HIP. Boys in the CSP class were the most violent youth on nearly all indices with boys in the HIP class demonstrating an intermediate level of violence compared to NP boys. Girls in the HIP class were more violent than NP girls on all indices. These findings suggest stalking in adolescence merits attention by violence prevention experts. In particular, juvenile stalking may signify youth at risk for multiple forms of violence perpetrated against multiple types of victims, not just the object of their infatuation.

Although research suggests that the antisocial behavior (ASB) facet of psychopathy generally carries the greatest predictive power for future violence, these findings are drawn primarily from forensic samples and may reflect criterion contamination between historical violence and future violence perpetration. Likewise, these findings do not negate the association of other psychopathy facets to violence or their role in the development of violence, nor do they offer practical utility in the primary prevention of violence. There are a number of empirical and theoretical reasons to suspect that the callous affect (CA) facet of psychopathy may demonstrate stronger statistical association to violence in nonforensic populations. We tested the association of CA to severe acts of violence (e.g., assault with intent to harm, injure, rape, or kill) among men with and without history of arrest (N = 600) using both the three- and four-facet models of psychopathy. CA was robustly associated with violence outcomes across the two groups in the three-facet model. When testing the four-facet model, CA was strongly associated with violence outcomes among men with no history of arrest, but only moderately associated with assaults causing injury among men with history of arrest. These results are consistent with data from youth populations that implicate early emotional deficits in later aggressive behavior and suggest CA may help to identify individuals at risk for violence before they become violent. Implications for the public health system and the primary prevention of violence are discussed.

Research suggests that masculine socialization processes contribute to the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) by men. Although this research has traditionally focused on men who strongly adhere to traditional gender norms, men who negatively evaluate themselves as falling short of these norms (a construct termed masculine discrepancy stress) have proven to be at increased risk of IPV perpetration. Likewise, men experiencing problems with emotion regulation, a multidimensional construct reflecting difficulties in effectively experiencing and responding to emotional states, are also at risk of IPV perpetration. In the present research, we tested the hypothesis that the link between discrepancy stress and IPV perpetration is mediated via difficulties in emotion regulation. Three hundred fifty-seven men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, emotion-regulation difficulties, and history of IPV perpetration. Results indicated that discrepancy-stressed men's use of physical IPV was fully mediated by emotion-regulation difficulties. In addition, emotion-regulation difficulties partially mediated the association between discrepancy stress and sexual IPV. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of emotion-focused interventions for modifying men's experience and expression of discrepancy stress and reducing perpetration of IPV.

OBJECTIVES: To assess gender differences in the proportion of adolescents reporting teen dating violence (TDV) and the frequency of TDV at multiple age points across adolescence in a high-risk sample of youth with previous exposure to violence. METHODS: A cross-sectional, high-risk sample of boys and girls (n = 1149) ages 11 to 17 years completed surveys assessing TDV and self-defense. Indices of TDV included perpetration and victimization scales of controlling behaviors, psychological TDV, physical TDV, sexual TDV, fear/intimidation, and injury. RESULTS: More girls reported perpetrating psychological and physical TDV, whereas twice as many boys reported sexual TDV perpetration. More girls reported fear/intimidation victimization than boys. When comparing the frequency of TDV across adolescence, boys reported more sexual TDV victimization at younger ages, and girls demonstrated a trend toward more victimization at older ages. Likewise, younger boys reported more fear/intimidation and injury perpetration and injury victimization than younger girls. However, by age 17, girls reported more injury perpetration than boys, and reports of injury victimization and use of self-defense did not differ. Notably, despite potential parity in injury, girls consistently reported more fear/intimidation victimization associated with TDV. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to data suggesting that girls experience far more sexual TDV and injury, these data suggest that at specific times during adolescence, boys among high-risk populations may be equally at risk for victimization. However, the psychological consequences (fear) are greater for girls. These findings suggest a need to tailor strategies to prevent TDV based on both age- and gender-specific characteristics in high-risk populations.

PURPOSE: The goal of the present research was to identify distinct latent classes of adolescents that commit teen dating violence (TDV) and assess differences on demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal correlates. METHODS: Boys and girls (N = 1,149; Mage = 14.3; Grades 6-12) with a history of violence exposure completed surveys assessing six indices of TDV in the preceding 3 months. Indices of TDV included controlling behaviors, psychological TDV, physical TDV, sexual TDV, fear/intimidation, and injury. In addition, adolescents provided demographic and dating history information and completed surveys assessing attitudes condoning violence, relationship skills and knowledge, and reactive/proactive aggression. RESULTS: Latent class analysis indicated a three-class solution wherein the largest class of students was nonviolent on all indices ("nonaggressors") and the smallest class of students demonstrated high probability of nearly all indices of TDV ("multiform aggressors"). In addition, a third class of "emotional aggressors" existed for which there was a high probability of controlling and psychological TDV but low likelihood of any other form of TDV. Multiform aggressors were differentiated from emotional and nonaggressors on the use of self-defense in dating relationships, attitudes condoning violence, and proactive aggression. Emotional aggressors were distinguished from nonaggressors on nearly all measured covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence indicates that different subgroups of adolescents engaging in TDV exist. In particular, a small group of youth engaging in multiple forms of TDV can be distinguished from a larger group of youth that commit acts of TDV restricted to emotional aggression (i.e., controlling and psychological) and most youth that do not engage in TDV.

Psychopathy is an early-appearing risk factor for severe and chronic violence. The violence largely attributable to psychopathy constitutes a substantial portion of the societal burden to the public health and criminal justice systems, and thus necessitates significant attention from prevention experts. Yet, despite a vast base of research in psychology and criminology, the public health approach to violence has generally neglected to consider this key variable. Fundamentally, the public health approach to violence prevention is focused on achieving change at the population level to provide the most benefit to the maximum number of people. Increasing attention to the individual-level factor of psychopathy in public health could improve our ability to reduce violence at the community and societal levels. We conclude that the research literature on psychopathy points to a pressing need for a broad-based public health approach with a focus on primary prevention. Further, we consider how measuring psychopathy in public health research may benefit violence prevention, and ultimately society, in general.

To understand and ultimately prevent injury and behavioural health outcomes associated with masculinity, we assessed the influence of masculine discrepancy stress (stress that occurs when men perceive themselves as falling short of the traditional gender norms) on the propensity to engage in stereotypically masculine behaviours (eg, substance use, risk taking and violence) as a means of demonstrating masculinity. Six-hundred men from the USA were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) online data collection site to complete surveys assessing self-perceptions of gender role discrepancy and consequent discrepancy stress, substance use/abuse, driving while intoxicated (DWI) and violent assaults. Negative binomial regression analyses indicated significant interactive effects wherein men high on gender role discrepancy and attendant discrepancy stress reported significantly more assaults with a weapon (B=1.01; SE=0.63; IRR=2.74; p=0.05) and assaults causing injury (B=1.01; SE=0.51; IRR=2.74; p<0.05). There was no association of discrepancy stress to substance abuse, but there was a protective effect of gender role discrepancy for DWI among men low on discrepancy stress (B=-1.19, SE=0.48; IRR=0.30; p=0.01). These findings suggest that gender role discrepancy and associated discrepancy stress, in particular, represent important injury risk factors and that prevention of discrepancy stress may prevent acts of violence with the greatest consequences and costs to the victim, offender and society.

Commonly used dating violence prevention programs assume that promotion of more egalitarian gender role attitudes will prevent dating violence perpetration. Empirical research examining this assumption, however, is limited and inconsistent. The current study examined the longitudinal association between gender role attitudes and physical dating violence perpetration among adolescent boys (n = 577; 14 % Black, 5 % other race/ethnicity) and examined whether injunctive (i.e., acceptance of dating violence) and descriptive (i.e., beliefs about dating violence prevalence) normative beliefs moderated the association. As expected, the findings suggest that traditional gender role attitudes at T1 were associated with increased risk for dating violence perpetration 18 months later (T2) among boys who reported high, but not low, acceptance of dating violence (injunctive normative beliefs) at T1. Descriptive norms did not moderate the effect of gender role attitudes on dating violence perpetration. The results suggest that injunctive norms and gender role attitudes work synergistically to increase risk for dating violence perpetration among boys; as such, simultaneously targeting both of these constructs may be an effective prevention approach.

PURPOSE: Addressing gender norms is integral to understanding and ultimately preventing violence in both adolescent and adult intimate relationships. Males are affected by gender role expectations which require them to demonstrate attributes of strength, toughness, and dominance. Discrepancy stress is a form of gender role stress that occurs when boys and men fail to live up to the traditional gender norms set by society. Failure to live up to these gender role expectations may precipitate this experience of psychological distress in some males which, in turn, may increase the risk to engage in physically and sexually violent behaviors as a means of demonstrating masculinity. METHODS: Five-hundred eighty-nine adolescent males from schools in Wayne County, Michigan completed a survey assessing self-perceptions of gender role discrepancy, the experience of discrepancy stress, and history of physical and sexual dating violence. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses indicated boys who endorsed gender role discrepancy and associated discrepancy stress were generally at greater risk to engage in acts of sexual violence but not necessarily physical violence. CONCLUSIONS: Boys who experience stress about being perceived as "sub-masculine" may be more likely to engage in sexual violence as a means of demonstrating their masculinity to self and/or others and thwarting potential "threats" to their masculinity by dating partners. Efforts to prevent sexual violence perpetration among male adolescents should perhaps consider the influence of gender socialization in this population and include efforts to reduce distress about masculine socialization in primary prevention strategies.

Nearly 20 million new sexually transmitted infections occur every year in the United States. Traditionally, men have demonstrated much greater risk for contraction of and mortality from STDs perhaps because they tend to engage in a number of risky sexual activities. Research on masculinity suggests that gender roles influence males' sexual health by encouraging risk-taking behavior, discouraging access to health services, and narrowly defining their roles as partners. However, despite the propensity of highly masculine men to engage in high-risk sexual behavior, there is reason to suspect that men at the other end of the continuum may still be driven to engage in similar high-risk behaviors as a consequence of gender socialization. Discrepancy stress is a form of gender role stress that occurs when men fail to live up to the ideal manhood derived from societal prescriptions (i.e., Gender Role Discrepancy). In the present study, we surveyed a national sample of 600 men via Amazon Mechanical Turk to assess perceived gender role discrepancy, experience of discrepancy stress, and the associations with risky sexual behavior and potential contraction of STDs. Results indicated that men who believe they are less masculine than the typical man (i.e., gender role discrepancy) and experience distress stemming from this discrepancy (i.e., discrepancy stress) engage in high-risk sexual behavior and are subsequently diagnosed with more STDs. Findings are discussed in relation to implications for primary prevention strategies.

OBJECTIVE: This article summarizes existing research on the relationship between alcohol policies and intimate partner violence (IPV). Because alcohol use represents an important risk factor for IPV, interventions and policies aimed at decreasing problem drinking may also lead to reductions in IPV. METHOD: Electronic databases were searched to identify relevant peer-reviewed journal articles on alcohol policies and IPV, as well as reference sections of appropriate articles. Only policies that have been studied specifically for their impact on IPV were included. RESULTS: Three alcohol policy areas (outlet density, hours and days of sale, and pricing/taxation) have been studied in relation to IPV outcomes. Research on outlet density has the most consistent findings, with most studies indicating that higher densities of alcohol outlets are associated with higher rates of IPV. Fewer studies have been conducted on pricing policies and policies restricting hours/days of sale, with most studies suggesting no impact on IPV rates. CONCLUSIONS: A higher density of alcohol outlets appears to be associated with greater rates of IPV. However, there is limited evidence suggesting that alcohol pricing policies and restrictions on hours and days of sale are associated with IPV outcomes. Knowledge about the impact of alcohol-related policies on IPV and violence in general is limited by several significant research gaps. Additional research is needed to assess the impact of alcohol policies on IPV and other forms of violence.

Research on gender roles suggests that men who strongly adhere to traditional masculine gender norms are at increased risk for the perpetration of violent and abusive acts toward their female intimate partners. Yet, gender norms alone fail to provide a comprehensive explanation of the multifaceted construct of intimate partner violence (IPV) and there is theoretical reason to suspect that men who fail to conform to masculine roles may equally be at risk for IPV. In the present study, we assessed effect of masculine discrepancy stress, a form of distress arising from perceived failure to conform to socially-prescribed masculine gender role norms, on IPV. Six-hundred men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, masculine gender role norms, and history of IPV. Results indicated that masculine discrepancy stress significantly predicted men's historical perpetration of IPV independent of other masculinity related variables. Findings are discussed in terms of potential distress engendered by masculine socialization as well as putative implications of gender role discrepancy stress for understanding and intervening in partner violence perpetrated by men.

Psychopathic personality (psychopathy) is associated with a heightened risk for physical aggression, although the nature of this link remains unclear. Despite widespread claims that psychopathy is associated with reactive aggression, the evidence for this assertion is mixed. We provide a comprehensive review of behavioral, cognitive, and biological research on the relation between psychopathy and aggression, and conclude that although psychopathy is clearly associated with instrumental aggression, its association with reactive aggression is not robust. In fact, at least some research points to a potential protective role of psychopathy against reactive aggression. We conclude that future research must clarify the differential implications of the separable components of the broad psychopathy construct before the relations between psychopathy and physical aggression can be adequately understood. 2011.