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Using family systems theory, this longitudinal study of middle school youth examined the effects of abuse, family conflict, and sibling aggression on sexual harassment perpetration (N = 1563; Mage 11.2, 51% boys; 39% Hispanic, 29% Black, and 19% White). Boys reported more sexual harassment than girls; perpetration increased for both. The association between a hostile home environment and sexual harassment perpetration was moderated by school experiences. School belonging buffered effects of hostile home environment on baseline sexual harassment perpetration for boys who experienced abuse and White adolescents with high sibling aggression. Academic grades moderated change in perpetration over time, but effects differed by sex and race. It is important to understand how early violence exposures relate to sexual violence perpetration during early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence (SV) among adolescents continues to be a major public health concern with numerous consequences. Research, predominantly with male collegiate samples, has suggested an association between sports participation and SV perpetration, and has included other important risk factors such as substance use and attitudes. However, more research is needed in this area among adolescents. The current study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to examine data- driven classes of high school student athletes (N = 665) engaged in three risk factor areas for SV: sport contact level, likelihood of substance use, and attitudes dismissive of SV. Once classes were enumerated and fit separately for male and female samples, pairwise comparisons were conducted on scores on two forms of SV (perpetration of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact) as a function of class membership. A 5-class solution was retained for both males and females. In the female sample, regarding SV—harassment, those most likely to perpetrate sexual harassment were those characterized by high likelihood of use of cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, vape products, and those who played any type of sport. Too few females endorsed perpetration of unwanted sexual contact for pairwise comparisons to be conducted. For males, the classes most likely to perpetrate both forms of SV were those who were likely to endorse high likelihood to use of cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, vape products, endorse attitudes dismissive of SV, and play any type of sport but especially high contact sports. These findings implicate high school athletic spaces as important venues for sexual violence prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are consistently high rates of sexual victimization and substance misuse among youth in the United States. Although there is a known relation between sexual victimization and substance use, there is a gap in the research regarding the magnitude and temporality of these associations. This study examined whether latent classes of sexual victimization and help-seeking attitudes longitudinally predict intentions of future substance misuse 7–10 months later. Students from nine Colorado high schools (N = 533; M = age 16 years) completed surveys across two consecutive school semesters. Latent class analysis was used to identify classes of students who experienced at least one form of sexual victimization (e.g., sexual harassment, unwanted sexual contact) according to 13 sexual victimization items, and level of positive attitudes regarding help-seeking for sexual victimization. Classes were compared on demographic characteristics and for distal outcomes of likelihood of future substance misuse (cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, prescription drugs, and electronic vaping products) using latent class regression, controlling for previous intentions to use. At Time 1, four classes of sexual victimization were identified with two main classes for comparison: low odds of experiencing sexual victimization (60.1% of sample) and high odds of endorsing all forms of sexual victimization (7.7% of sample). The high sexual victimization class had higher proportions of male and transgender students, compared to other classes. At Time 2 (7–10 months later), students in the high sexual victimization class reported a significantly greater likelihood of future cigarette (p =.017) and prescription drug misuse (p =.007) when compared to the low sexual victimization class. There was no evidence that having higher positive attitudes towards help-seeking resulted in lower intentions to use substances in the future. These findings highlight that addressing sexual violence in prevention programming may have crossover effects of reducing substance misuse and other forms of violence among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies have examined the association between male involvement in sports and sexual violence (SV) perpetration, especially among college-age males. Less is known about the association between sports involvement and SV perpetration for adolescent males and females. To address this gap, the current study examined sports involvement in middle school (no sports, no/low contact, and high contact) among 1,561 students, who were then followed into high school and asked about the frequency of SV perpetration. Results from logistic regression models indicated that, even after controlling for mother's education, race/ethnicity, SV perpetration in middle school, and traditional beliefs about masculinity and substance use, middle school sports participation was significantly associated with risk of SV perpetration in high school. Compared with youth who reported no sports involvement in middle school, youth categorized as no/low contact sports involvement had greater odds of SV perpetration in high school. Sex differences emerged, revealing that no/low contact sports involvement was associated with SV perpetration for females and high contact sports involvement was associated with SV perpetration for males, compared with no sports involvement. These findings suggest potential opportunities to intervene in middle school to improve coaching practices, enhance respectful relationships, and modify athletes' norms, attitudes, and behaviors to reduce risk for SV perpetration in high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study tested differences in social network characteristics of high school students who report perpetrating sexual violence (SV) versus those who do not. N = 4554 students (49% male, 49% female, 2% another gender identity; 45% Hispanic, 43% white, 12% another racial identity) from 20 high schools reported how often they had perpetrated 13 sexually violent behaviors. Using their responses, students were classified as follows: non-perpetrators, sexual harassment perpetrators, low contact perpetrators, or high contact perpetrators. Students named up to 7 close friends and up to 7 trusted adults at their school and answered questions about other behaviors and attitudes. This information was used to assess (1) students' connections with peers, (2) students' connections with trusted adults, and (3) friends' characteristics. Multilevel models indicated that compared to their peers, high contact perpetrators were less involved in the peer networks, less connected to trusted adults, and more likely to have friends who were involved in risky behaviors (e.g., sexual violence, homophobic name-calling, substance use). Low contact perpetrators were as connected to peers and trusted adults as non-perpetrators but were more likely to have friends engaged in sexual violence and homophobic naming-calling perpetration. By contrast, sexual harassment perpetrators were more involved and held higher status in the peer network (e.g., received more friendship nominations) but otherwise had similar friendship characteristics and similar connections to trusted adults as non-perpetrators. Building on these results, social network-informed SV prevention should use opinion leaders to change SV norms throughout the network and encourage new relationships between low- and high-risk students so as to disseminate norms that do not tolerate SV. Promoting connections to trusted adults also may be a useful avenue, especially for isolated adolescents. Trial Registration This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01672541. Syntax code is available from the authors upon request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bystander intervention (i.e., a third party decides to defend a victim when witnessing a conflict) has been identified as an effective strategy to resolve bullying incidents (O'Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999). Researchers suggest that student willingness to intervene (WTI) is a robust predictor of bystander intervention (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014). Toxic masculinity has been defined as "the constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence" (Kupers, 2005, p. 71). Though some aspects of toxic masculinity (e.g., low empathy) have received some empirical attention regarding their role in determining prosocial behavior, many aspects of toxic masculinity have not. Little research has examined how constructs such as attitudes surrounding bullying and sexual harassment, social dominance orientation, and homophobic bullying are related to longitudinal changes in WTI across adolescence. The present study uses growth mixture modeling (GMM) to examine the heterogeneity of WTI among middle school boys in the Midwest (N = 805). Students were classified into three profiles of WTI over time: a "stable high" class (70.9%), a "decreasing" class (22%), and a "stable low" class (7.1%). When compared with the "stable high" class, students with higher levels of dominance and pro-bullying attitudes were associated with an 11% (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI [1.01–1.21] and a 55% (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.05–2.31] increase in the odds of being in the "decreasing" class, respectively. Youth who reported higher rates of homophobic name calling perpetration had a 16% (AOR = 1.16, 95% CI [1.02–1.34] increase in the odds of being in the stable low class compared to the stable high class. Additionally, both homophobic name calling victimization and empathy were associated with a 17% (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI [0.70–0.98] and 18% (AOR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.69–0.98] lower odds of being in the stable low class. The findings support the theoretical framework which posits that features of toxic masculinity are associated with less WTI and thus carry implications for intervention design (Carlson, 2008; Leone et al., 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]