Perceptions of Sexual Violence Terms Used in Statutes Throughout the United States.

The terminology used to describe sexually violent offenses vary, and how these labels are interpreted by the public remains unclear. This study explores the terms for the primary-legally most severe-offense of sexual violence in legal statutes across the United States and investigates how different terms evoke different perceptions about crime severity. Results indicate that nine different terms are used to identify the primary offense of sexual violence in state statutes, with significant differences in perceived severity for these terms. The findings have implications for the public's (mis)understanding of sexual violence and the treatment of survivors and perpetrators.

The Contextual Influences of Police and Social Service Providers on Formal Help-Seeking After Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence.

Police notification and social service acquisition are two forms of formal help-seeking linked to improved outcomes among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), including better socio-emotional health, improved physical health, and, importantly, increased safety. The majority of research devoted to the study of formal help-seeking among survivors of IPV focuses on incident- and individual-level factors and their relationship with formal resource utilization. Much less is known about community-level factors. Using a nationally representative sample of incidents of IPV from the National Crime Victimization Survey (2006-2016), this work explores how law enforcement and social service resources in a community are related to police notification and survivor acquisition of a victim service after an incident of IPV, net of incident- and individual-level factors. Logistic regression models indicate that the number of law enforcement personnel per 1,000 residents in a county is positively associated with police notification after an incident of IPV, and it exerts an indirect effect on survivor service acquisition through police notification. Additional analyses reveal that the race/ethnicity of the survivor of IPV is a key demographic in the explanation of this relationship, as incidents of IPV involving White and Hispanic survivors of IPV are more likely to come to the attention of police as the number of law enforcement personnel increases. The reverse is true for incidents involving Black survivors of IPV. No differences across survivor sex emerged. Potential reasons to account for varying effects across race/ethnicity are discussed as well as the importance of additional funding for police and social service agencies to serve survivors of IPV and meet the dual goals of offender accountability and survivor safety and well-being.

Maternal Substance Abuse and the Mother-Child Relationship in Late Childhood.

This study examines the relationship between maternal substance abuse and various aspects of the mother-child relationship in late childhood while accounting for mental health and comorbid substance abuse and mental health among a predominantly racial minority sample.Using 369 mother-child dyads from the Rochester Intergenerational Study (64% Black, 17% Hispanic, and 8% mixed race/ethnicity), multilevel generalized linear models examined the effects of a maternal substance abuse history, a history of clinical depression, and comorbid substance abuse and depression histories on both maternal and child reports of five aspects of the mother-child relationship (i.e. warmth, consistent discipline, maternal knowledge, involvement, and conflict). RESULTS: A maternal substance abuse history alone was unrelated to each aspect of the mother-child relationship as perceived by the mother or child, with the exception of child perceptions of maternal knowledge of behavior. Alternatively, a history of depression or comorbid histories of substance abuse and depression was negatively related to warmth, consistent discipline, involvement, and conflict but only as perceived by the mother. CONCLUSIONS: This study reinforces the need for integrated treatment programs for women with substance use problems, particularly programs that incorporate mental health and parenting components. Moreover, it highlights specific targets for intervention that can reduce subsequent maternal substance abuse and improve offspring outcomes. The divergence in observed effects across reporter also suggests that future research should use multiple reporters to examine the interpersonal consequences associated maternal substance abuse.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in 30-Year Trajectories of Cannabis Use among Males.

Background: Given that cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the US, continuous research on patterns of cannabis use over the life course can help to ensure progress towards improving public health and reducing health inequalities across race/ethnicity. Thus, we examine racial/ethnic differences in cannabis use trajectories among males across two overlapping stages of the life course. Methods: We use data from two companion studies, the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS - a longitudinal cohort study that followed participants from adolescence into adulthood), and its intergenerational extension - the Rochester Intergenerational Study. For Life Stage 1, we consider cannabis use during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (spanning ages 13 to 33; 439 Black, 128 White, and 125 Hispanic males). Among these males who became fathers, we consider cannabis use during fatherhood (Life Stage 2 -spanning the period of time when their firstborn child was between the ages of 7 and 17-217 Black, 55 White, and 56 Hispanic males). Ordinal generalized estimating equations were specified to examine cannabis use trajectories during both stages of the males' lives. Results: No significant differences in cannabis use as a function of racial/ethnic group were found during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (Life Stage 1). All groups had a peak of cannabis use in the early to mid-20's followed by a decline in use. During fatherhood (Life Stage 2), cannabis use was stable for all groups, but Black fathers reported more frequent cannabis use on average than Hispanic fathers. Conclusions: The increase in cannabis use well past adolescence for all groups suggests the potential importance of intervention initiatives during the transition to adulthood. The more frequent use of cannabis by Black fathers warrants further study given the impact parental cannabis use can have on offspring.

Reconsidering the "gang effect" in the face of intermittency: Do first- and second-time gang membership both matter?

Research demonstrates that joining a gang is associated with amplified criminal behavior. Given that gang membership can be a transient and intermittent status, we question whether it has a consistent effect on offending regardless of whether an individual joins a gang for the first time or rejoins (for the second time). Using panel data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (N = 1,217 person-periods nested within 177 individuals), we employ a within-persons analysis via multilevel structural equation models with fixed slopes. First-time membership is associated with increases over pregang periods in general, violent and property offending, as well as drug sales. Joining a gang for the second time is associated with significant increases in general and violent offending, as well as with drug sales, compared with the time out of the gang after first-time membership. Finally, the total changes in offending associated with first- and second-time gang membership seem to be comparable. Overall, the results suggest that gang membership, whether a new or repeat experience, is a salient life event and that intermittency is related to meaningful disruptions in offending pathways.

How Early Is Too Early? Identification of Elevated, Persistent Problem Behavior in Childhood.

We inquire how early in childhood children most at risk for problematic patterns of internalizing and externalizing behaviors can be accurately classified. Yearly measures of anxiety/depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors (ages 6-13; n = 334), respectively, are used to identify behavioral trajectories. We then assess the degree to which limited spans of yearly information allow for the correct classification into the elevated, persistent pattern of the problem behavior, identified theoretically and empirically as high-risk and most in need of intervention. The true positive rate (sensitivity) is below 70% for anxiety/depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors using behavioral information through ages 6 and 7. Conversely, by age 9, over 90% of the high-risk individuals are correctly classified (i.e., sensitivity) for anxiety/depressive symptoms, but this threshold is not met until age 12 for aggressive behaviors. Notably, the false positive rate of classification for both high-risk problem behaviors is consistently low using each limited age span of data (< 5%). These results suggest that correct classification into highest risk groups of childhood problem behavior is limited using behavioral information observed at early ages. Prevention programming targeting those who will display persistent, elevated levels of problem behavior should be cognizant of the degree of misclassification and how this varies with the accumulation of behavioral information. Continuous assessment of problem behaviors is needed throughout childhood in order to continually identify high-risk individuals most in need of intervention as behavior patterns are sufficiently realized.

Criminal Justice Contact Across Generations: Assessing the intergenerational Labeling Hypothesis.

PURPOSE: The present study assesses the intergenerational labeling hypothesis and examines whether the relationship between a child's involuntary contact with the police and subsequent offending depends on parental arrest history (and its timing in the life course of the child) and parent sex. METHODS: Using data from 312 parent-child dyads from the Rochester Youth Development Study and Rochester Intergenerational Study, generalized linear regression models estimate the main and interactive effects of a child's involuntary contact and parental arrest history on subsequent delinquency as well as potential mechanisms for deviance amplification. RESULTS: Main effects are consistent with labeling theory and moderation analyses reveal that the impact of involuntary contact on subsequent delinquency depends on parental arrest history. More specifically, contact with the police on subsequent offending is greater when the focal parent has an arrest history, regardless of when the most recent arrest occurs in the life course of the child. However, some differences in the magnitude of the exacerbating effect of recent parental arrest emerged. Results also speak to potential mechanisms across mother-child and father-child dyads with respect to deviance amplification. CONCLUSIONS: This research supports the life-course principles of "linked lives" and "timing in lives" and their application to labeling theory in an intergenerational context. To reduce deviance amplification, special attention should be paid to youth who experience a police contact in the context of a parental arrest history.

Intergenerational continuity in alcohol misuse: Maternal alcohol use disorder and the sequelae of maternal and family functioning.

Early onset of alcohol use is associated with a host of detrimental outcomes. As such, understanding the complex etiology of early onset alcohol use for prevention purposes is an important goal. Specific environmental stressors within the family (i.e., financial stress, negative parental well-being and negative family climate) heighten the risk of early onset alcohol use; however, the extent to which these factors are set in motion by prior maternal history of alcohol misuse has yet to be investigated. We used prospective, longitudinal data from 385 mother-child dyads to examine the link between a maternal alcohol use disorder and her child's early onset of alcohol use through the sequelae of maternal financial strain, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal excessive alcohol use, and negative family climate. Results indicate that a maternal alcohol use disorder itself, and the confluence of a maternal alcohol use disorder, subsequent financial strain, and depressive symptoms produce a negative family climate. In turn, a negative family climate increases the likelihood of alcohol use by the age of 15 among offspring. Moreover, we demonstrate that the cascade of consequences on maternal and family functioning linking a maternal alcohol use disorder to her child's early onset of alcohol use is proximal in nature, unfolding concurrently rather than in yearly spans of time. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the etiology of early onset alcohol use (and extant theoretical models) and prevention programming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The reproduction of child maltreatment: An examination of adolescent problem behavior, substance use, and precocious transitions in the link between victimization and perpetration.

Growing evidence suggests that maltreatment is reproduced across generations as victims of maltreatment are at an increased risk for maltreatment perpetration. Unfortunately, little information about mediating pathways exists to provide an explanation for why maltreatment begets maltreatment. We use the number of types of maltreatment experienced to predict later maltreatment perpetration and then examine two developmental pathways that may serve as bridges between maltreatment victimization and perpetration: adolescent problem behaviors and precocious transitions to adulthood. With prospective, longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, we assess the relevance of these pathways for the number of maltreatment experiences as well as the number of maltreatment victimization experiences by developmental period (i.e., childhood and adolescence). Our results demonstrate a significant relationship between maltreatment victimization and maltreatment perpetration. Adolescent delinquency and two precocious transitions, dropping out of school and independent living, as well as the accumulation of precocious transitions and problem behaviors, serve as mediators of this intergenerational relationship. Furthermore, the relationship between the number of types of maltreatment and subsequent perpetration is primarily driven by experiences of maltreatment during adolescence. We discuss the implications of these results and set an agenda for the development of programs and policies to interrupt the cycle of maltreatment.

Intergenerational Continuity in Depression: The Importance of Time-Varying Effects, Maternal Co-morbid Health Risk Behaviors and Child's Gender.

Intergenerational continuity in depressive symptoms is well established between mother and child, but there are still important facets of this relationship that are underexplored. We examine intergenerational continuity in depressive symptoms between mother-child dyads as a flexible function of child age and account for the potential moderating role of maternal co-morbid health risk behaviors. Using prospective, self-report data collected yearly from 413 mother-child dyads (210 mother-son dyads and 203 mother-daughter dyads) between child ages 12-17, the results indicate that the effect of maternal depressive symptoms on daughters' depressive symptoms steadily increases throughout adolescence whereas the effect of maternal depressive symptoms on sons' depressive symptoms is relatively small, stable, and non-significant during mid-adolescence before increasing in effect in later adolescence. A positive interactive effect between maternal depressive symptoms and intimate partner violence is observed for sons and maternal depressive symptoms and substance use for daughters. A negative interactive effect of maternal depressive symptoms and substance use is observed among sons. Overall, this study identifies particular subgroups for whom intervention programming is most beneficial and suggests targeting health risk behaviors of mothers to lessen the impact of maternal depressive symptoms on offspring.

Exploring Intergenerational Continuity in Gang Membership.

Little is known regarding intergenerational continuity in gang membership. Qualitative literature is suggestive of intergenerational parallelism yet no known research examines the causal mechanisms associated with this cycle, if it even exists. Prospective, longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) and the Rochester Intergenerational Study (RIGS) assess intergenerational continuity in gang membership among 371 parent-child dyads in a series of logistic regressions accounting for moderating influences of parent sex, child sex, parent-child sex combinations, and level of contact. Path analyses reported herein explore whether parenting behaviors mediate the relationship between parent and child gang membership among fathers and mothers, respectively. Three key findings emerge. First, intergenerational continuity in gang membership exists between mothers and daughters and, conditional on contact, between fathers and sons. Second, maltreatment mediates some of this relationship among father-son dyads. Third, no pathways to daughter gang membership were identified among mothers. In sum, this study provides evidence of intergenerational continuity in gang membership and further highlights the importance of parent sex, child sex, and level of contact in intergenerational research. Future research should further explore the causal pathways between parent and child gang membership.

The impact of adolescent risk behavior on partner relationships.

Prior literature suggests that involvement in adolescent risk behaviors will have short- and long-term consequences that disrupt the orderly flow of later development, including impacts on patterns of partner relationships. In this study, we explore how adolescent involvement in delinquency, drug use, and sexual behavior at an early age affects the likelihood and timing of both marriage and cohabitation using a sample from the Rochester Youth Development Study. We also examine the direct effects of dropping out of high school, teenage parenthood, and financial stress during emerging adulthood as well as their potential role as mediators of the relationships between adolescent risk behaviors and partnering for both males and females. Overall, there is not very strong support for a direct relationship between adolescent delinquency, drug use, or early sexual behavior and patterns of partner formation. In contrast, the more proximal relationships, indicated by precocious transitions to adulthood and financial instability, are more consistently related to partner formation. These findings support models of cumulative disadvantage: early adolescent problem behaviors are weakly related to partner formation, but appear to set in motion cascading consequences that influence the transition to adulthood and, in turn, these more proximal variables are more consistently related to partner formation.

The (ir)relevance of procedural justice in the pathways to crime.

Process-based approaches to compliance argue that normative considerations, such as procedural justice and legitimacy, have the potential to reduce offending. This perspective was formalized with Tyler's (1990, 2003) Model of Procedural Justice and subsequently was evaluated among adult and adolescent offenders alike. However, extant evaluations do not consider whether and how individual offending histories affect the relevance of the concepts of procedural justice and legitimacy on offending behavior. This void is problematic given the growing concern that judgments of procedural justice and perceived legitimacy may not always be relevant with respect to compliance (Tyler & Jackson, 2013). This research integrates a developmental perspective with the procedural justice model to evaluate the effects of procedural justice and legitimacy on offending among early-onset and adolescent-onset offenders. Using a sample of convicted adolescent offenders, evidence suggests that the relevance of the procedural justice model varies across age of onset. The normative considerations of procedural justice and legitimacy are unrelated to recidivism among early-onset offenders, yet they affect subsequent offending among adolescent-onset offenders, although not always in the direction specified by theory.

Gang Membership and Pathways to Maladaptive Parenting.

A limited amount of research examines the short-term consequences of gang membership. Rarer, though, is the examination of more distal consequences of gang membership. This is unfortunate because it understates the true detrimental effect of gang membership across the life course, as well as the effects it may have on children of former gang members. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, this work investigates the impact of gang membership in adolescence (ages 12-18) on a particularly problematic style of parenting, child maltreatment. Using discrete time survival analysis, this study finds that gang membership increases the likelihood of child maltreatment and this relationship is mediated by the more proximal outcomes of gang membership during adolescence, precocious transitions to adulthood.

Adolescent risk factors for child maltreatment.

We investigate adolescent risk factors, measured at both early and late adolescence, for involvement in child maltreatment during adulthood. Comprehensive assessments of risk factors for maltreatment that use representative samples with longitudinal data are scarce and can inform multilevel prevention. We use data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in 1988 with a sample of 1,000 seventh and eighth graders. Participants have been interviewed 14 times and, at the last assessment (age 31), 80% were retained. Risk factors represent 10 developmental domains: area characteristics, family background/structure, parent stressors, exposure to family violence, parent-child relationships, education, peer relationships, adolescent stressors, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions to adulthood. Maltreatment is measured by substantiated reports from Child Protective Services records. Many individual risk factors (20 at early adolescence and 14 at later adolescence) are significantly, albeit moderately, predictive of maltreatment. Several developmental domains stand out, including family background/structure, education, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions. In addition, there is a pronounced impact of cumulative risk on the likelihood of maltreatment. For example, only 3% of the youth with no risk domains in their background at early adolescence were involved in later maltreatment, but for those with risk in 9 developmental domains the rate was 45%. Prevention programs targeting youth at high risk for engaging in maltreatment should begin during early adolescence when risk factors are already at play. These programs need to be comprehensive, capable of addressing the multiple and interwoven nature of risk that is associated with maltreatment.