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Research has documented that a significant portion of youth are exposed to bias victimization. However, less is known about whether experiencing certain types of bias victimization (e.g., sexual orientation bias) is more or less likely to be related to a more extensive bias victimization history (i.e., experiencing multiple types of bias victimization) and whether exposure to multiple types of bias victimization explains any relationships between specific types of bias victimization and negative outcomes. To address these gaps, the current study explores relationships between exposure to multiple types of bias-motivated victimization, trauma symptomatology and perceived social support. Participants were 854 youth and young adults (60.9% female) from three higher risk communities who completed a survey on personal experiences with bias-related victimization. The average age of participants was 16.6 years; 28.5% of the sample described themselves as Black or African American; 13.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race); 45.3% as White, and 12.8% as another race. Sixty-nine percent of the sample described their sexual orientation as heterosexual; 8.9% as gay, lesbian, or homosexual; 12.5% as bisexual; and 9.5% as another sexual orientation. Sixty-three percent of participants reported at least one type of bias victimization in their lifetime, and more than one in three youth (38.7%) experienced two or more types of bias victimization in their lifetimes (18.1% two types, 12.1% three types, and 8.5% four or more types). Experiencing multiple types of bias victimization was related to higher trauma symptomatology and less perceived social support. Experiencing multiple types of bias victimization attenuated or eliminated the association between individual types of bias victimization and well-being. The findings contribute to a growing body of research demonstrating the damaging mental health effects of occupying multiple marginalized statuses, and points to the cumulation of bias victimization experiences as an important factor contributing to significant differences in well-being and support among youth and young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of corporal punishment usage in the US population. Methods: This study was based on a 2014 cross-sectional, telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of US households with children. Reports about spanking of 0–9 year olds were obtained from parents, while reports about 10–17 year olds were obtained from the youth themselves. Results: The survey suggested that a majority of children in the US were not subject to corporal punishment in 2014. The rate was 49% in the past year for children ages 0–9, 23% for youth 10–17 and 37% overall. Rates of spanking were lower for girls compared to boys, Northeasterners compared to Southerners, and whites compared to blacks. They were also lower among those with a graduate education, and families with fewer than 3 children. The proportion of children subject to corporal punishment had declined by 2014 compared to other national surveys conducted in 1975 and 1985. This is in line with other studies showing declines of 26–40% in the spanking of kindergarden age children from 1988 to 2011. Conclusion: The trends suggest a continuing reduction of spanking in the population. Because of growing research and advocacy about this practice both nationally and internationally, it may be that awareness is having some impact and it will continue to decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychological studies often include indicators of physical and mental health as outcomes. However, researchers are now beginning to include a wide range of measures of well-being. The current study uses a cross-sectional community sample from rural Appalachia to examine age and gender trends in traditional outcome measures and in subjective measures of well-being, including health-related quality of life, mental health, positive self-regard, spiritual well-being, and posttraumatic growth. Analyses revealed that while health-related quality of life tends to be lower for older participants, mental health and spiritual well-being tend to be higher for older participants. Positive self-regard showed no significant effects for either age or sex. Curvilinear age effects were seen for health-related quality of life (cubic), spiritual well-being (quadratic), and posttraumatic growth (quadratic), suggesting possible turning points across the lifespan for these indicators of well-being. Significant main effects for sex were seen in health-related quality of life, mental health, and posttraumatic growth, with males reporting better physical and mental health and females reporting higher levels of posttraumatic growth. Intervention and prevention efforts might aim to promote aspects multiple aspects of well-being throughout the lifespan, particularly those aspects that are most stable across age and sex (such as a positive self-regard), and future research could expand upon these patterns to include an older population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research mostly defines the benefits of work as the absence of unemployment's negative outcomes or as benefits to employers, such as increased productivity. This study uses mixed methods to investigate the ways that work can enhance the well-being of the worker. Two hundred and two participants from a rural area participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys. Participants' qualitative discussions of work in the interviews were coded with grounded theory. The majority (74.8 %) of participants mentioned work at least once during the interview, which focused on prominent moments in their life stories, and 53.3 % of work mentions were positive. Two main themes encompassing the protective benefits of work arose: self-oriented benefits and other-oriented benefits. Each main theme was further divided into three subthemes. Self-oriented subthemes were autonomy, personal development, and empowerment; other-oriented subthemes were providing for dependents, generativity, and helping others. Participants spoke about how each of these benefits enhances their well-being and happiness. The empowerment subtheme was positively correlated with workplace integration and negatively correlated with financial strain. This study uncovered protective benefits of work that have not been addressed by previous scholarship. Qualitative data provided the flexibility to explore work-related domains for which quantitative scales do not currently exist. Work is one of the main activities of most adults, and the study of the psychological benefits of work can improve our understanding of adult well-being and happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvictimization (i.e., exposure to multiple forms of victimization) appears highly correlated with indicators of traumatic stress in children. In this study, a national sample of children and youth were assessed for 36 different kinds of victimization using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. Polyvictims were defined as the 10% of children experiencing the most different kinds of victimization in each of 4 developmental cohorts. The younger polyvictims had somewhat fewer victimizations overall, less sexual victimization, and more victimization at the hands of family members, particularly siblings. However, polyvictimization at every developmental level was strongly associated with distress symptoms. This study suggests the importance of assessing for and identifying polyvictims at all ages, including among preschoolers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Much of the existing research on the prevalence and consequences of peer victimization focuses on 'bullying' at school, often omitting from consideration non-bullying types of peer victimization as well as events that occur outside of school. The purpose of this study was to examine past-year exposure to peer-perpetrated victimization, occurring both within and outside of school contexts, among school-aged children in the United States. The study is based on a representative sample of 2,999 youth ages 6-17 (50% female; 45% non-white) from the 2008 National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). Findings revealed age, gender, race, and family structure variations in many forms of peer victimization and demonstrated significant independent and cumulative effects of six different types of peer victimization (physical assault, physical intimidation, emotional victimization, sexual victimization, property crime, and internet harassment) on trauma symptoms. Findings also showed that, although victimization at school is substantial, a considerable proportion of peer victimizations occur away from school contexts. The findings highlight the importance of comprehensive measurement of multiple forms of peer victimization that occur both at school and elsewhere, rather than focusing exclusively on traditional measures of school-focused bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that people perceive intimate partner violence (IPV) as more serious in cases involving a male perpetrator and female victim versus other gender combinations. This study is the first to explore reasons for these differences. 181 undergraduates at a U.S. southeastern college rated one of four dating violence vignettes that varied by perpetrator and victim gender. Participants viewed male-on-female violence as more frightening primarily because males are stronger and bigger than female perpetrators. Physical differences were rated as significantly more important causes of fear than other personality/relationship dynamics. Because males are actually stronger and bigger than females, it appears that gendered perceptions of violence are based in real-world knowledge of gender differences, not merely gender stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposition that men and women perpetrate partner violence equally would make partner violence unique with respect to other forms of interpersonal violence. Women, however, commit a substantial minority of violent acts. Any theory of gender patterns in partner violence needs to be reconciled with other violence data. Data on other violence indicate that different methodologies sample from different sets of phenomena, and those methods that sample the least severe violence show greater gender equivalence. Interpretation is clouded, however, by underreporting and overreporting across methodologies. Despite improvements in self-report measures, partner violence measurement lacks a gold standard. A gold standard would include incident data, sexual violence, injury, and be developed through direct comparison of multiple methods, including perhaps real-time self-monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports preliminary data on a sample of therapists with memory of childhood sexual abuse. Therapists who reported experiencing childhood sexual abuse (CSA, n = 131) were compared with therapists who suspected sexual abuse but had no memories (n = 24) on variables related to abuse characteristics, outcomes, and perceived difficulties working with clients with a CSA history. Therapists who suspected abuse, in contrast to those who made definite reports, were more likely to report that the perpetrator was a family member, that their CSA did not involve physical contact, that there was alcoholism in their families of origin, and that the CSA had negative effects on their relationships with their own children, ability to trust others, sexual satisfaction, and work life. Therapists who suspected abuse also reported more difficulty treating CSA clients because of interpersonal pulls during sessions, arousal without memories of abuse, and some countertransferential behaviors. These findings indicate that issues related to personal trauma should be addressed during training and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the myriad benefits associated with accessing digital technologies, there has been considerable concern regarding the prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in youth dating relationships. Using the resilience portfolio model (Hamby, S., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2018). Resilience portfolios and poly strengths: Identifying protective factors associated with thriving after adversity. Psychology of Violence, 8, 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000135.) and digital well-being theory (Büchi, M. (2024). Digital well-being theory and research. New Media & Society, 26(1), 172–189.) as scaffolding, this paper describes survivor-centered and strengths-based advocacy approaches to support youth DDA survivors in developing digital resiliency and subjective well-being.Using thematic content analysis, this study involved key informant interviews (n = 35) with staff at Intimate Partner Violence organizations in the United States. Data analysis involved multiple rounds of iterative coding.Five thematic domains were constructed, including affirming that survivors are not responsible for tech abuse, optimizing the benefits of digital technologies and reducing the risks, positioning youth digital expertise as a strength, empowering youth to be critically informed users of digital technologies, and emphasizing boundary setting in digital spaces.Accessing technology contributes to DDA youth survivors’ well-being and is critical to fully navigate their social environments in the digital age. Rather than limiting the use of technologies, it is important to support youth in becoming critically conscious, informed, and empowered users of digital technologies. Strengths-based and survivor-centered advocacy approaches to nurturing youth resilience involve honoring youth tech expertise, encouraging survivors to define their boundaries in digital spaces, and fortifying youth survivors’ regulatory, psychosocial, and meaning-making strengths. Future digital literacy curricula should prioritize developing DDA youth survivors’ digital resilience rather than overly emphasizing harm reduction approaches that target users’ digital safety and tech literacy behaviors.Methods: Despite the myriad benefits associated with accessing digital technologies, there has been considerable concern regarding the prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in youth dating relationships. Using the resilience portfolio model (Hamby, S., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2018). Resilience portfolios and poly strengths: Identifying protective factors associated with thriving after adversity. Psychology of Violence, 8, 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000135.) and digital well-being theory (Büchi, M. (2024). Digital well-being theory and research. New Media & Society, 26(1), 172–189.) as scaffolding, this paper describes survivor-centered and strengths-based advocacy approaches to support youth DDA survivors in developing digital resiliency and subjective well-being.Using thematic content analysis, this study involved key informant interviews (n = 35) with staff at Intimate Partner Violence organizations in the United States. Data analysis involved multiple rounds of iterative coding.Five thematic domains were constructed, including affirming that survivors are not responsible for tech abuse, optimizing the benefits of digital technologies and reducing the risks, positioning youth digital expertise as a strength, empowering youth to be critically informed users of digital technologies, and emphasizing boundary setting in digital spaces.Accessing technology contributes to DDA youth survivors’ well-being and is critical to fully navigate their social environments in the digital age. Rather than limiting the use of technologies, it is important to support youth in becoming critically conscious, informed, and empowered users of digital technologies. Strengths-based and survivor-centered advocacy approaches to nurturing youth resilience involve honoring youth tech expertise, encouraging survivors to define their boundaries in digital spaces, and fortifying youth survivors’ regulatory, psychosocial, and meaning-making strengths. Future digital literacy curricula should prioritize developing DDA youth survivors’ digital resilience rather than overly emphasizing harm reduction approaches that target users’ digital safety and tech literacy behaviors.Results: Despite the myriad benefits associated with accessing digital technologies, there has been considerable concern regarding the prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in youth dating relationships. Using the resilience portfolio model (Hamby, S., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2018). Resilience portfolios and poly strengths: Identifying protective factors associated with thriving after adversity. Psychology of Violence, 8, 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000135.) and digital well-being theory (Büchi, M. (2024). Digital well-being theory and research. New Media & Society, 26(1), 172–189.) as scaffolding, this paper describes survivor-centered and strengths-based advocacy approaches to support youth DDA survivors in developing digital resiliency and subjective well-being.Using thematic content analysis, this study involved key informant interviews (n = 35) with staff at Intimate Partner Violence organizations in the United States. Data analysis involved multiple rounds of iterative coding.Five thematic domains were constructed, including affirming that survivors are not responsible for tech abuse, optimizing the benefits of digital technologies and reducing the risks, positioning youth digital expertise as a strength, empowering youth to be critically informed users of digital technologies, and emphasizing boundary setting in digital spaces.Accessing technology contributes to DDA youth survivors’ well-being and is critical to fully navigate their social environments in the digital age. Rather than limiting the use of technologies, it is important to support youth in becoming critically conscious, informed, and empowered users of digital technologies. Strengths-based and survivor-centered advocacy approaches to nurturing youth resilience involve honoring youth tech expertise, encouraging survivors to define their boundaries in digital spaces, and fortifying youth survivors’ regulatory, psychosocial, and meaning-making strengths. Future digital literacy curricula should prioritize developing DDA youth survivors’ digital resilience rather than overly emphasizing harm reduction approaches that target users’ digital safety and tech literacy behaviors.Conclusions: Despite the myriad benefits associated with accessing digital technologies, there has been considerable concern regarding the prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in youth dating relationships. Using the resilience portfolio model (Hamby, S., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2018). Resilience portfolios and poly strengths: Identifying protective factors associated with thriving after adversity. Psychology of Violence, 8, 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000135.) and digital well-being theory (Büchi, M. (2024). Digital well-being theory and research. New Media & Society, 26(1), 172–189.) as scaffolding, this paper describes survivor-centered and strengths-based advocacy approaches to support youth DDA survivors in developing digital resiliency and subjective well-being.Using thematic content analysis, this study involved key informant interviews (n = 35) with staff at Intimate Partner Violence organizations in the United States. Data analysis involved multiple rounds of iterative coding.Five thematic domains were constructed, including affirming that survivors are not responsible for tech abuse, optimizing the benefits of digital technologies and reducing the risks, positioning youth digital expertise as a strength, empowering youth to be critically informed users of digital technologies, and emphasizing boundary setting in digital spaces.Accessing technology contributes to DDA youth survivors’ well-being and is critical to fully navigate their social environments in the digital age. Rather than limiting the use of technologies, it is important to support youth in becoming critically conscious, informed, and empowered users of digital technologies. Strengths-based and survivor-centered advocacy approaches to nurturing youth resilience involve honoring youth tech expertise, encouraging survivors to define their boundaries in digital spaces, and fortifying youth survivors’ regulatory, psychosocial, and meaning-making strengths. Future digital literacy curricula should prioritize developing DDA youth survivors’ digital resilience rather than overly emphasizing harm reduction approaches that target users’ digital safety and tech literacy behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]