The experiences and perceptions of campus resource utilization by college students with childhood domestic violence exposure histories.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the campus resource utilization experiences of university students with childhood domestic violence exposure (CDV) histories. Participants: 368 students attending a large, flagship, land-grant, predominantly White university in the Southeastern United States. Methods: Participants completed a web-based survey with variables including CDV, campus resource utilization and perceptions of said resources, and participant resource suggestions. Results: Most students utilized at least one health-related campus resource, with the student health and counseling centers being the most common and helpful. Suggested areas for institutional and service provider growth include enhanced advertisement and accessibility for existing resources and added support groups. Conclusions: College campuses provide unique opportunities to support young adults with CDV histories. Tailoring programming to students with CDV histories has the potential to improve student's success in and beyond college.

From Organizing Medicine to Cooking With More Leafy Greens: A Dyadic, Qualitative Analysis of How Older African American Couples Take Care of Each Other's Health.

Guided by the Dyadic Theory of Illness Management, we explored spousal health management behaviors and their congruence within seventeen older African American married couples participating in a dyadic exercise intervention. Both prior to and after the intervention, spouses reported how they took care of their partner's health as well as what their partner did for them. Data were analyzed using theoretical thematic analysis, and five health management behaviors domains were identified (diet, exercise, self-care, medical compliance, relationship maintenance). Both partners were most likely to encourage healthier diets and exercise. Wives tended to report more behaviors compared to husbands. Couples had little congruence in their appraisals of each other's health management behaviors, and patterns were stable over time. Findings suggest incongruence in couples' health management behaviors represented complementary, collaborative efforts to support each other and that husbands may underestimate how much care they both provide to and receive from their wives.

Black Men's Intimate Partner Violence Victimization, Help-Seeking, and Barriers to Help-Seeking.

Guided by hegemonic masculinity and intersectionality theories, this descriptive, exploratory study examined Black men's intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization experiences, subsequent help-seeking decisions, and barriers to help-seeking. To begin exploring Black men's experiences, two research questions guided this study: (a) What are Black men's experiences of IPV-related help-seeking? (b) What barriers do Black men face when seeking IPV-related help and support? A total of 54 Black men participated in an online survey on their IPV experiences via the crowdsourcing platform Prolific. Overall, the men who participated in this study experienced relatively low levels of minor and severe physical and sexual violence victimization, as well as lower levels of coercive controlling violence in comparison to nationally representative data, suggesting this sample comprises men who experience situational couple versus coercive controlling violence. All but one participant utilized at least one help-seeking strategy. Informal strategies were most commonly utilized, whereas legal strategies were least commonly utilized. The degree to which participants perceived each strategy as helpful was quite variable, such that staying with friends or family was the most helpful strategy yet 47.8% found it unhelpful. The most common help-seeking barriers (e.g., wanting to solve the problem on their own) overlap with hegemonic masculinity and Black men's experiences with formal and legal systems, relating less to the internalized and anticipated stigma subscales created for women. Broadly, this study helps illustrate the need for researchers to focus on developing measures and interventions tailored to Black men and their experiences.

Legal System Disclosure Experiences of Young Adult Children Exposed to Domestic Violence.

Children exposed to domestic violence (DV) disclose their experiences to a variety of people, including informal (e.g., peers), formal (e.g., doctors), and legal (e.g., police) support systems. Legal system disclosure is more common than formal system disclosure yet remains understudied leaving unanswered questions about the nature of those who choose to disclose and factors that influence their disclosure decision. Guided by communication privacy management theory and Johnson's typology of domestic violence (DV), this study addressed gaps in the CEDV literature through a theoretical thematic analysis of the DV exposure and legal system disclosure experiences of 25 young adults exposed to father-mother-perpetrated DV during their childhood. Findings from this study show that half of the participants had no legal system disclosure (n = 12; nondisclosers) and half had at least some legal system disclosure (n = 13; disclosers). Varying types of violence exposure and levels of exposure were factors that impacted youths' decisions to disclose to legal systems. Escalation of violence was a key factor that drove legal system disclosure, but other factors including how the young adults and their communities perceived their fathers, the match between the youth's goals for disclosure and the outcomes upon disclosing, along with family privacy norms and family boundaries were influential in guiding decision making over time. This study has implications for practitioners working with DV-exposed youth, as our findings unpack the conditions under which youth choose to (not) disclose, the factors influencing these decisions, and how the responses and reactions from legal support systems inform future disclosure decisions.

The Romantic Relationship Experiences of Young Adult Women Exposed to Domestic Violence.

Guided by a review of the literature on intergenerational transmission of violence, or "the cycle of violence", and Johnson's typology of domestic violence, the current study qualitatively examined the romantic relationship experiences of 23 young adult women who were exposed to father-mother-perpetrated domestic violence (DV) during childhood and adolescence. Findings are partially consistent with the hypothesis that DV exposure is associated with an increased risk of later experiencing dating violence, such that half of the sample reported having abusive partners or relationships during high school. However, none of the young women reported violence or abuse during the early years of college, suggesting the salience of developmental timing when examining transmission of violence. Beyond whether the women experienced dating violence, they described how their earlier DV exposure experiences influence how they entered into, managed, and exited romantic relationships. By comparing their potential, former, and current romantic relationships with their fathers' violence and abuse, their mothers' victimization, and high school relationship partners' behaviors, the young women actively and strategically managed their relationship involvement over time. Although women exposed to both situational couple and coercive controlling violence reported experiencing abuse during high school, only women with coercive controlling exposure experienced reported having nonabusive, healthy, and supportive relationships. Findings suggest that the romantic relationship experiences of DV-exposed young adult women are complex, warranting a holistic approach that takes into consideration the full range of potential relationship experiences, the role of former relationships, and developmental timing when seeking to prevent and intervene in intergenerational transmission processes.

Qualitative Research on Interpersonal Violence: Guidance for Early Career Scholars.

The purpose of this article is to offer early career violence scholars guidance on critical aspects of qualitative research, including methodological integrity and research procedures. Throughout this article, we center our discussion on issues of methodological fit, flexibility, safety, and ethics. We overview paradigmatic frameworks that guide methodological decisions and discuss reasons why researchers might choose to use qualitative methods. We then address decisions around recruitment, sampling, and saturation as well as predata collection preparations for conducting interview-based studies. Participant and research team safety and ethics are emphasized, as these issues should be at the core of all decisions in interpersonal violence research. Along with examples from the field of interpersonal violence, we provide references to relevant resources on paradigmatic frameworks, specific qualitative research approaches, and safety and ethics. Throughout, we draw from our lessons learned as qualitative researchers, teachers, and mentors who study intimate partner violence and young adult children exposed to marital violence.

A Methodological Review and Critique of the "Intergenerational Transmission of Violence" Literature.

Exposure to interpersonal or interparental violence (EIPV) and child abuse and maltreatment (CAM) are associated with an increased risk of maladaptive outcomes, including later involvement in adulthood intimate partner violence (IPV; often referred to as the theory of intergenerational transmission of violence). Recent meta-analyses, however, have documented a weak effect size when examining this association. By focusing on young adulthood, a development stage in which identity development and romantic relationship formation are salient tasks, we can provide insight into the association between EIPV, CAM, and IPV. Guided by the methodological critiques from the IPV and EIPV literatures, the present study reviewed the methodology used in 16 studies (published between 2002 and 2016) that tested the theory of intergenerational transmission of violence. The review study focused on how EIPV, CAM, and young adult dating violence were measured and analyzed, with the initial goal of better understanding how methodological decision informed the study's findings. Ultimately, we determined that there was simply too much methodological variability and yet too little methodological complexity to truly inform a review and discussion of the results; therefore, our review solely focused on the study's methodological decisions. Based on our review, we suggest that both of these challenges, too much variability and too little complexity, hinder our ability to examine the theory of intergenerational transmission of violence. Future research must strike a balance between methodological consistency and complexity to better understand the intricate nuances of IPV experiences and inform practice.

Heterogeneity Within Domestic Violence Exposure: Young Adults' Retrospective Experiences.

Using Holden's taxonomy of domestic violence (DV) exposure as a guiding framework, the current study examined young adults' diverse DV exposure experiences. Twenty-five young adults (ages 19-25) exposed to father-perpetrated DV during their childhood and adolescence were interviewed using a qualitative descriptive design. Data analyses focused on coercive control exposure through reports of non-physical abuse tactics, types of exposure (e.g., direct, indirect), physical violence exposure (e.g., severity, frequency), and child abuse and harsh parenting practices. DV-exposed young adults were directly and indirectly exposed to physical violence and an array of non-physical abuse tactics toward their mothers. Young adults categorized as having been exposed to coercive controlling violence reported exposure to ongoing, non-physical abuse tactics and more frequent and severe physical violence. These young adults were also more likely to intervene and become victimized during physical violence and reported repeated episodes of child abuse and harsh parenting. Although coercive control appeared to be associated with physical violence and child abuse, generalizations should be made with caution as a few participants exposed to situational conflict were exposed to frequent and severe DV. The findings suggest that DV exposure should be measured in methodologically sophisticated ways to capture the heterogeneity in experiences, with the goal of promoting empirically driven intervention and prevention initiatives that are tailored to individual and family needs.

Understanding change in violence-related attitudes for adolescents in relationship education.

Relationship education (RE) targets common correlates of adolescent dating violence (ADV), such as gender role beliefs (GRB) and DV acceptance (DVA), yet few studies have evaluated the influence of RE on GRB and DVA and none have considered participants' sociodemographic characteristics. Using a sample of adolescents from the United States (Mage = 15.66 years; 58% female), this study examined pre- and post-test GRB and DVA scores of RE participants (n = 1645) compared to nonparticipants (n = 522) and explored the differential and combined effects of participants' sociodemographic characteristics on change. Black males held the most traditional GRB at pre-test, but became more egalitarian after programming. RE participation also appeared to act as a buffer against an increase in DVA for females, but not males. Study findings provide a more complex picture of the role of RE in shifting beliefs and attitudes associated with ADV and provide implications for programming.

Beyond "Lots of Hugs and Kisses": Expressions of Parental Love From Parents and Their Young Children in Two-Parent, Financially Stable Families.

Given that parental love is essential for children's optimal development, the current study gathered examples of how parental love was demonstrated within parent-child relationships. Fifty-eight two-parent, financially stable families consisting of a mother, father, and young child (3-7 years old) from the Midwest were interviewed regarding how they demonstrated or perceived parental love. Results from an inductive thematic analysis revealed considerable variability in how parental love was demonstrated, with five themes emerging that overlapped between parents and their children: playing or doing activities together, demonstrating affection, creating structure, helping or supporting, and giving gifts or treats. Some gendered patterns among these themes were found with mothers emphasizing physical and verbal affection and fathers highlighting their more prominent role as playmates. The lay examples provided by parents and children in this exploratory study extend previous conceptualizations of parental love and underscore the importance of parents being attuned and responsive to the specific needs of their children.

Coparenting relationship trajectories: Marital violence linked to change and variability after separation.

Associations between marital intimate partner violence (IPV) and postseparation coparenting relationship trajectories were examined among 135 mothers who participated in 5 interviews at 3-month intervals in the year following their divorce filing. Growth curve analysis was conducted to assess change and variability in coparenting dimensions (i.e., conflict, support, communication about child rearing, and harassment) in the overall sample and by type of IPV. In the overall sample, coparenting conflict, communication about child rearing, and harassment decreased across the year following separation. However, coparenting relationships differed considerably based on marital IPV experiences. At Time 1, mothers in relationships with coercive controlling violence (CCV) reported higher levels of harassment and conflict, and lower levels of support and communication about coparenting, than mothers with situational couple violence (SCV) or no violence (NV). Furthermore, coparenting relationship trajectories differed significantly by IPV group, with mothers who experienced CCV showing more variability in conflict and harassment, and more marked changes in conflict, support, and harassment. Despite many similarities, mothers with SCV showed higher initial levels of harassment compared to mothers with NV. Findings can support family court and social service professionals' efforts to individualize interventions with divorcing parents based on IPV experiences. In cases of CCV, for example, attention to heightened control dynamics in the immediate separation period remain critical but the persistent volatility across the first year suggests the potential for chronic stress. With SCV, practitioners may be able to capitalize on parents' reasonable levels of communication and steady coparenting support. (PsycINFO Database Record

Divorcing Mothers' Use of Protective Strategies: Differences Over Time and by Violence Experience.

OBJECTIVE: The current study considered protective strategy use at various points in time for divorcing mothers with a range of marital violence experiences (including no history of violence and different types of violence). METHOD: Divorcing mothers (N = 170) from one Midwestern county participated in two in-person interviews that included structured assessments of intimate partner violence (IPV) during the last year of marriage and use of protective strategies at three time points - last year of marriage and at separation (both assessed at Time 1) and since the first interview (at a three month follow-up). RESULTS: Divorcing mothers, regardless of marital violence experience, used an array of private and public protective strategies during the last year of marriage, at separation, and at the three-month follow up interview. In general, mothers who experienced coercive controlling violence reported using more protective strategies than mothers who experienced situational couple violence or no violence. Strategy use peaked at separation with an increase in public strategy use. CONCLUSIONS: All divorcing mothers use a range of active coping strategies over time, yet findings emphasize the importance of making distinctions between types of IPV so that divorcing mothers receive individualized resources and support that best meet their needs and minimize potentials risks and losses as they navigate the divorce process.

Toward a Standard Approach to Operationalizing Coercive Control and Classifying Violence Types.

Coercive control is central to distinguishing between Johnson's (2008) 2 main types of intimate partner violence: (a) coercive controlling violence and (b) situational couple violence. Approaches to assessing coercive control, however, have been inconsistent. Using data from 2 projects involving divorcing mothers (N = 190), the authors compared common analytic strategies for operationalizing coercive control and classifying types of violence. The results establish advantages to measuring coercive control in terms of frequency versus number of tactics, illustrate the use of both hierarchical and k-means clustering methods to identify patterns of coercive control and evaluate clustering solutions, and offer a suggested cutoff for classifying violence types in general samples of separated women using the Dominance-Isolation subscale of the widely used Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (Tolman, 1992). Finally, the authors demonstrate associations between types of violence and theoretically relevant variables, including frequency and severity of violence, harassment and violence after separation, fear, and perceived threat.

The effects of domestic violence allegations on custody evaluators' recommendations.

Judges and attorneys often request professional assessments from child custody evaluators when allegations of adult domestic violence (DV) have been made, but it is unclear whether and how evaluators' recommendations are impacted by these allegations. Custody evaluators (N = 607) in the United States responded to a multiple-segment factorial vignette designed to examine the effects of 2 key factors in DV allegations: type of alleged violence (conflict-based, control-based) and counterallegations (none, mutual, and female-initiated). Effects of control- versus conflict-based DV allegations by the mother on custody recommendations were small and the majority of evaluators recommended joint custody regardless of violence type. Reported confidence in making a recommendation increased once the father responded to the allegation, but to a smaller degree when a counterallegation of mutual or female-initiated violence was made. Evaluators were no more skeptical about the potential motive of a counterallegation in the context of controlling behavior than in the context of conflict-based behavior. Overall, results indicate that most custody evaluators are not sufficiently sensitized to distinguish between situational couple violence and coercive controlling behavior, and the postseparation safety of mothers and their children may therefore be jeopardized.

Custody evaluators' beliefs about domestic violence allegations during divorce: feminist and family violence perspectives.

Approximately, 20% of divorcing couples in the United States require judicial intervention to reach a custody agreement. In such cases, courts often call on child custody evaluators to conduct comprehensive evaluations and recommend custody agreements and services that meet children's best interests. Estimates suggest that allegations of domestic violence (DV) are raised and substantiated in about 75% of these cases. Custody evaluators are thus in a position to ensure that divorcing parents with DV receive effective services and enter into safe custody agreements. They are also in a position to minimize or deny the seriousness of DV and its relevance to custody decisions. The present study uses grounded theory methods to examine how custody evaluators' theoretical perspectives on DV and beliefs about custody disputes in the context of DV are related to their evaluation process and recommendations.