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Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a significant global concern, profoundly affecting physical, psychological, sexual, and financial well-being. Its prevalence is notably high in conservative societies including Saudi Arabia (SA). Given the limited research on the role of social support in IPV within SA. This study aimed to assess IPV victimization and its association with the psychological state of abused women in SA, and the effects of social support on the women's experience of IPV., Methods: A total of 128 women participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected from September 2022 to March 2023 using the World Health Organization Multi-Country Violence Against Women, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support., Results: One-quarter of women experienced at least one type of IPV, with more than half of them experienced financial (65.6%), sexual (53.9%), emotional (57.8%), controlling behavior (43.8%) and physical (39.8%) abuse. IPV victimization, be it physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and IPV frequency were positively correlated with psychological distress (M = 15.05, SD = 6.82, p = .009), anxiety and depression (M = 6.29, SD = 2.57, p = .004), and loss of confidence (M = 2.57, SD = 1.90, p < .001). Social support was negatively associated with physical and controlling behavior abuse (p = .01) as well as IPV frequency (p = .024). The risk factors of IPV were unemployed women, employed husbands, history of child abuse for wives and husbands, financial struggle and arranged marriage., Conclusions: The conclusion was that IPV can cause psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and loss of confidence and can be buffered by social support. Given its prevalence and impact on mental health, it is crucial to establish strict policies and regulations to prevent IPV and provide effective interventions and support for abused women., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of King Saud University, with ethics approval reference [KSU-HE-22–460]. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection. This study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Suicidal ideation among college students and adolescents represents a significant public health issue worldwide. Research has indicated that emotional difficulties may mediate the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. However, insights from Thomas Joiner's interpersonal theory and Klonsky's The Three-Step Theory suggest that suicidal ideation arises not merely from emotional distress but from the interplay of hopelessness along with these emotional challenges. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether variouse affective problems mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among college students., Methods: In this study, we utilized a convenience sampling method to collect data from 2717 college students (mean age = 19.81 years, 22.49% male) in South China. We examined the relationships between variables using Spearman's correlation analysis. To analyze potential mediation effects, we employed PROCESS model 4 within SPSS., Results: Our findings revealed that different forms of bullying victimization can predict experiences of depression, anxiety, and social anxiety. However, these emotional responses did not significantly influenced suicidal ideation among college students. Additionally, while different forms of bullying victimization did not directly correlate with feelings of hopelessness, hopelessness was closely associated with the prevalence of suicidal ideation. Furthermore, our results highlighted a significant mediating role of psychiatric prodromal experiences in the relationship between different forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation., Conclusions: The results suggested that affective problems may not serve as a significant mediating factor in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. We proposed an integrated emotion-response model that enhances understanding of suicidal ideation among college and offers a framework for more effective prevention strategies., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology, South China Normal University, with ethical approval number: SCNU-PSY-2022-217. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent for publication: All authors have contributed to and have approved the final manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Younger people are more likely to report cybercrime than older people. As older people spend more time online, this may change. If similarly exposed, risk factors including social isolation and poor health could make older adults disproportionally susceptible. We aimed to explore whether cybercrime risks and their predictors vary between age groups., Methods: We analysed responses from 35,069 participants aged 16+ in the 2019/20 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). We investigated, among people who have used the internet in the past year, risks of experiencing any cybercrime, repeat victimisation and associated financial loss across age groups., Results: Despite being at lower risk of reporting any cybercrime in the past year, people aged 75+ were more likely to report financial loss resulting from cybercrime victimisation (OR 4.25, p = 0.037) and repeat cybercrime victimisation (OR 2.03, p = 0.074) than younger people. Men, those from Mixed or Black ethnic groups, more deprived areas, managerial professional groups, and with worse health were at greater cybercrime risk., Discussion: While younger adults are more at risk from cybercrime, older adults disclosed more severe cases (repetitive victimisation and associated financial loss), perhaps due to lesser awareness of scams and reporting options. As most people experience declining health as they age, greater understanding of why poor health predicts cybercrime could inform prevention initiatives that would particularly benefit older age groups and mitigate risks of growing internet use among older adults. Health and social care professionals may be well positioned to support prevention., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Havers et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Cyberbullying refers to a modern form of bullying that could be practiced electronically or on the Internet. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey to explore different types of cyberbullying involvement (CI) and the associations of CI with demographic characteristics and mental health problems among Chinese college students., Methods: A total sample of 18,578 Chinese college students were recruited (68.1 % female, mean age = 20.07 years) from October 17 to 29, 2023. All participants completed self-reported web-based questionnaires on demographic characteristics, CI, sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation., Results: More than a quarter of participants (27.5 %) have been involved in cyberbullying: specifically speaking, 10.1 % cybervictims, 4.7 % cyberbullies, and 12.7 % both (cyberbully-victims). Males, younger age, left-behind experiences, individuals with poorer family economic status, adolescents with chronic physical illness, and those with family history of mental disorders are more likely to experience CI. Unlike participants without CI, cybervictims and cyberbully-victims reported a higher risk of sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Cyberbullies also have a higher rate of sleep disturbance and depression than their peers who are not involved in cyberbullying., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that CI is widespread among Chinese college students, and CI is associated with the high reported rates of a series of psychopathology. This study highlights the significance of implementing anti-cyberbullying interventions specifically targeted at college students. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of monitoring changes in students' mental health status throughout the intervention process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is most prevalent in young adults, yet scarce evidence is available regarding South Korean young adults' experience of IPV and culturally tailored IPV prevention programs. To address this gap, this study aimed to holistically assess IPV victimization and perpetration rates and the related risk and protective factors among Korean young adults. Using online survey data from 600 Korean young adults using simple random sampling, this study found that the lifetime prevalence of both IPV victimization and perpetration was about 30%. Both IPV victimization and perpetration had affected over 20% in the past 12 months. Independent variables in multiple logistic regression models explained 18% and 23% of variances in lifetime IPV victimization and perpetration, respectively. Korean young adults who reported more depressive symptoms were more likely to report IPV victimization. Those who reported more alcohol consumption, traditional attitudes about gender roles, being more tolerant of IPV, and poorer physical health status were also more likely to commit IPV. However, those who had experienced family neglect were less likely to report IPV perpetration. The findings of this study highlighted that childhood adverse experiences minimally explained IPV and that alcohol consumption, mental health, and attitudinal variables should be targets of IPV prevention among Korean young adults., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 An et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Immigrant adolescents seem to be at risk for victimization and being victimized in adolescence is related to risk factors regarding mental health., Objective: This study compared the frequency and type of victimization experiences among immigrant and native Finnish adolescents and tested whether these experiences mediate the relationship between immigration status and psychosocial well-being. Additionally, willingness to disclose victimization experiences in anonymous questionnaires was compared between the groups., Participants and Setting: In this computer-based study a population-based sample of 5607 Finnish adolescents was used (M age  = 15.23, SD age  = 0.42, Range 15 to 16 years; 49.8 % girls, 48.5 % boys), of which 11.7 % were immigrants. Twelve lifetime victimization experiences were assessed, and psychosocial well-being was measured with Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire., Methods: Descriptive statistics, crosstabulation and t-tests were used to report victimization experiences and participants' willingness to share them in an anonymous questionnaire. The relationship between immigration status and psychosocial well-being was investigated with mediation analysis, victimization experiences as mediator., Results: Findings revealed that immigrant adolescents experienced more victimization, particularly in the form of property crimes, hate crimes, and physical and sexual abuse, than native adolescents. Victimization experiences were found to mediate the impact of immigration status on psychosocial well-being. Moreover, immigrant adolescents were less likely to disclose victimization experiences., Conclusions: The results suggest a potential underestimation of the prevalence of victimization experiences in immigrant adolescents, which warrants further investigation. As these experiences play an important role in the relationship between immigrant status and psychosocial well-being, the findings endorse assessing adverse experiences, as well as safe disclosure when planning psychosocial support and treatment for immigrant adolescents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report there are no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

General early-life bullying victimization has been used as an early-life marker of eating and body image disturbances and poor psychosocial well-being later in life. We expand existing research in this area to Chinese sexual minority (SM) men, a vulnerable and under-researched subgroup, by considering associations of general early-life bullying victimization with current eating and body image disturbances and poor psychosocial well-being. We assessed demographics, general early-life bullying victimization, past appearance teasing, current thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances, and current psychosocial well-being in Chinese SM men (N = 433). Correlation and hierarchical linear regressions examined the study hypotheses. Beyond covariates (e.g., age) and past appearance teasing, general early-life bullying victimization explained significant, unique variance in all outcome variables. Specifically, higher general early-life bullying victimization was uniquely associated with more current thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances and poor psychosocial well-being. Consistent with research in the Western context, findings suggest that general early-life bullying victimization is a meaningful, positive correlate of current eating and body image disturbances and poor psychosocial well-being in Chinese SM men. Future research considering sexual minority stress as a theoretical backdrop may help explain associations between general early-life bullying victimization and negative health outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

From 2015 to 2020, shootings by police injured or killed 1769 people annually in the United States, disproportionately harming members of minoritized groups. Prior studies of the structural determinants of these inequities have largely examined state-level aggregations and fatal outcomes. This study aimed to: 1) describe state and county variation in fatal and nonfatal injurious shootings by police, and 2) analyze the relationship between state and county context and differences in county rates of injurious shootings by police. Injury data were developed from manual review of incidents listed in the Gun Violence Archive, then aggregated by county-year. Covariate selection was informed by theories of police use of force and the Social Basis of Disparities in Health conceptual framework. Fixed effects negative binomial regression models were estimated, nesting years within counties and states. Analyses controlled for county population, local reporting presence, and multiple measures of social conflict and community violence. From 2015 to 2020, 56% of counties experienced injurious shootings by police. Higher county rates of victimization were associated with greater state spending on police relative to health, county income inequality, prevalence of unmet substance use disorder needs, higher county firearm availability, and permitless concealed carry statutes. Firearm purchaser licensing polices were associated with lower incidence of injurious shootings by police. To prevent patterns of injurious shootings by police, policymakers should consider addressing undermanaged substance use disorder through crisis fund allocation and use, adopting stronger firearm licensing systems, and evaluating local strategies to combat inequities and strengthen non-policing responses to social needs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no actual or potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study aimed to identify sex-specific co-developmental trajectories of multiple forms of childhood victimization: family maltreatment (FM), psychological maltreatment by teachers (PMT), and peer victimization (PV), and their relations to prosocial and delinquent behaviors among elementary school students. A total of 4378 Chinese elementary school students (Mage = 9.93; SD = 0.92; 55.14% boys) participated in assessments on five occasions, using six-month intervals. Parallel process latent class growth model analyses revealed three trajectories for boys: Congruent-low (75.64%), High-PV, Moderate-FM and PMT (14.62%), and Moderate-PV, High-FM and PMT (9.74%). Similarly, girls exhibited three trajectories: Congruent-low (81.11%), Moderate-PMT, High-FM and PV (10.54%), and High-PMT, Moderate-FM and PV (8.35%). The results indicated that boys were more susceptible than girls to three forms of childhood victimization. Furthermore, boys were especially vulnerable to co-occurring FM and PMT. In contrast, girls were more vulnerable to co-occurring FM and PV. Additionally, after experiencing childhood victimization, girls showed a greater hindrance in prosocial behavior development, whereas boys exhibited a more significant increase in delinquent behavior. These findings underscore the importance of considering sex differences in understanding multiple forms of childhood victimization and provide important insights for prevention and intervention efforts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adolescent sexual violence victimization is a significant public health issue in the United States. Structural sexism, a form of gender inequality at the societal level, may play a crucial role in influencing the prevalence of sexual violence victimization among adolescents., Objective: This study aims to examine the association between state-level structural sexism and sexual violence victimization among adolescents and to explore how this relationship varies between male and female adolescents., Participants and Setting: Data was derived from a nationally representative sample of high school students in grades 9-12 across the United States who participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) in 2017 and 2019., Methods: A state-level structural sexism index was created from nine different items to reflect the multidimensional nature of structural sexism. This study employs multi-level regression analysis to investigate the impact of state-level structural sexism on three types of sexual violence victimization: sexual violence, sexual dating violence, and physical dating violence., Results: This study revealed a significant interaction between structural sexism and gender. In states with higher levels of structural sexism, female adolescents reported increased likelihood of sexual violence (β = 0.013, p < .001), sexual dating violence (β = 0.006, p < .001), and physical dating violence (β = 0.006, p < .001) compared to males. Conversely, male adolescents in these states reported lower rates of victimization., Conclusions: The results underscore the role of structural sexism in influencing sexual violence victimization among adolescents. Addressing structural sexism may be essential in mitigating the risk of sexual violence victimization, especially for female adolescents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The author has no conflict of interest related to this publication., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: In adults, intimate partner violence victimization and traumatic brain injuries, including concussion, are strongly connected. However, no prior research has explored this association among youth. This study explores the association between teen dating violence (TDV) and concussion to inform clinical care for these at-risk groups., Methods: We used data from ninth and 10th grade youth in the 2017/18 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children nationally representative Canadian dataset (N = 2,926). TDV in the past 12 months was measured using three items for victimization and three for perpetration. Youth were asked if they had been told by a doctor or nurse that they had had a concussion in the past 12 months and where they were and what they were doing when they had the concussion. We used coarsened exact matching to create equivalent groups of TDV victims and nonvictims, and then explored the association between TDV and concussion using doubly robust logistic regression models. We also explored effect modification by gender., Results: TDV was related to higher odds of concussion, both overall and when restricted to nonsport settings. In nonsport settings, youth who reported mutual TDV reported the highest odds of past-year concussion (adjusted odds ratio = 2.14, 95% confidence interval: 1.07, 4.28, p = .032). We also found that girls and nonbinary youth reported elevated risk of concussion in the context of TDV., Discussion: We found that TDV was associated with increased risk for concussion. Findings can be used to inform future research and may assist adolescent health providers who treat youth with concussion., (Copyright © 2024 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives. To examine levels and temporal changes in the frequency of defensive gun use by US crime victims. Methods. We computed national-level counts of criminal incidents involving firearm defense during 3 periods: 1993 to 2005, 2007 to 2015, and 2016 to 2021. We also considered earlier national estimates for 1987 to 1990. The data came from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). We counted firearm defenses as incidents in which victims used a gun to threaten or attack an offender. Results. Over the 4 periods, for all crimes, victims reported gun defenses in an average range of between 61 000 and 65 000 incidents per year. This included between 38 000 and 53 000 personal (violent) incidents and between 12 000 and 23 000 household (property) incidents. Conclusions. Firearm defenses occurred at a relatively low and nearly constant level over the 35-year period. Although some victims use guns for defense, these uses are infrequent compared with the incidence of crime. Public Health Implications. The continuing relative rarity of NCVS armed defenses suggests that claims about the protective benefits of widespread firearm ownership may be overstated. ( Am J Public Health . 2024;114(12):1384-1387. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307838).

Objective: Recent shifts in U.S. violence dynamics call for updated violence epidemiology among general emergency department (ED) samples of young adults. Using baseline data from a multi-site longitudinal study of firearm violence prediction, we describe violence rates and associated factors., Methods: Staff approached age 18-24 entrants to Level-1 trauma centers in three cities (Flint, Seattle, Philadelphia; 7/2021-5/2023). Consenting participants completed a survey including validated measures of violence experience, firearm-related behaviors, substance use, mental health symptoms, peer/parental/familial behaviors, community violence, and attitudes/norms. We described the sample and examined factors associated with firearm assault (victimization/aggression, including threats)., Results: Across sites, 1506 participants enrolled (41.7. % Black; 33.6 % White; 61.4. % female). Half of participants self-reported past-six-month violent victimization and/or aggression; non-partner violence, and violent victimization were most common. Over half of participants self-reported high-risk substance use, and over half screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and/or anxiety. About 14.4 % self-reported past-six-month firearm assault, and 5.9 % self-reported firearm violence (excluding threats). Adjusted analysis showed community violence exposure was most strongly associated with firearm assault; each one-point-increase corresponded to a 13.7 % (95 %CI: 10.4 %-16.9 %) absolute increase in firearm assault prevalence. Drug misuse, mental health symptoms, firearm carrying, retaliatory attitudes, prosocial attitudes, and family conflict were also associated with firearm assault., Conclusions: Violence, including firearm assault, is common among young adults entering urban EDs, and is associated with several psychosocial factors. High rates of substance use and mental health symptoms underscore this as a high-need population. Leveraging this information could help tailor interventions and optimize resource allocation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Understanding the difference between the proportion of sexual offenses that are officially detected versus the total number of sexual crimes that occur has been of interest to decision makers for some time. Previous studies have not considered possible racial differences. More aggressive responses by police and the criminal justice system as well as cultural differences in victim type/reporting rates may result in differences between detection rates of Black versus White men. In the current study ( N = 190), we examined the difference between Black ( n = 51) and White ( n = 139) men committed to a forensic hospital as a Sexually Violent Person on factors that could impact the detected rate. Overall, we found that White men had significantly more total victims, undetected victims, undetected and detected child victims, total male victims, undetected male victims, undetected acquaintance victims, and total (detected and undetected) acquaintance victims than Black men. Black men had significantly more detected adult victims, but this difference did not remain when accounting for undetected victims. We explore reasons for these differences as well as provide recommendations for practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a major social and public health issue that creates short- and long-lasting impacts on victims, families, and society. While global researchers have considered the topic of CSA since the 19th century, the Nigerian context has been largely ignored. Yet, without sufficient evidence and understanding, making changes to practices and policies becomes almost impossible. The review aimed to gain insights into the nature and extent of CSA and identify areas for improvement in practice and research in Nigeria. This article presents the findings of a systematic review of 31 empirical articles related to CSA in Nigeria. Using key search terms along Boolean operators and truncation, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ASSIA, PILOTS, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar were searched. A total of 1,325 studies were found, and 31 empirical studies, including 20 quantitative, 9 qualitative, and 2 mixed methods studies, were included. The review findings reveal the discourse on CSA and delve into various aspects such as its prevalence, manifestation patterns, root causes, management, and consequential impact on victims and societal domains. The gaps in the existing literature are identified and explored to identify areas for improvement in victim services, societal awareness, and healthcare practices and relevant policies. The sociocultural norms not only heightened children's vulnerability to sexual abuse but also posed significant barriers to them disclosing such abuse. Survivors of CSA often receive inadequate care, indicating a pressing need for improvements in this area. Implications for research, policy, and conclusion were discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Although 9 million older adults are estimated to be victims of sexual violence and abuse (SVA) globally each year, this population is largely overlooked in criminological research. Given the known impacts of SVA, particularly for older victims, enhanced understanding of incident characteristics, and how these events unfold, is crucial to improving prevention and response. Guided by environmental criminology perspectives, a scoping review was conducted to assess the extent to which SVA events against older people have been empirically examined to gain an understanding of the immediate circumstances in which incidents occur and how this can inform early intervention and prevention. Eight databases were searched, with records included if they reported characteristics of SVA events occurring in older adulthood, were original, peer-reviewed, empirical research, and published in English. After screening 1,278 records, 33 studies were included for review. Findings demonstrate that considerable attention has been given to understanding who is involved in SVA events and what typically occurs, however, there is a dearth of information regarding when and how these crimes are perpetrated, and the situational factors influencing offending. Resultingly, prevention recommendations largely focus on actors (e.g., victims, perpetrators, witnesses), rather than the environment in which abuse occurs, emphasizing significant gaps in understanding and response to this growing issue., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Even though existing amounts of results have shown that school bullying could be related to the main components of executive functions (EFs) (inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility), research focused on this association yields inconsistent results., Method: To address this research gap, the current study conducted a three-level meta-analysis approach and simultaneously considered the two perspectives of the bully and victim to clarify the relationship between school bullying experienced by children and EFs. It also explored the moderating variables that affect the relationship between school bullying and EFs., Results: Based on 18 studies reporting 73 effect sizes (N = 21,725), the results revealed that the overall effect size for the association between both the bullies and victims of school bullying incidents with EFs (r bullies  = -0.154, p < .05; r victims  = -0.187, p < .001). Moderator analyses revealed that the negative correlation between bullies of school bullying and EFs was moderated by EF components, but it was not affected by gender, age, and the EF measurement method. Moreover, the negative correlation between victims of school bullying and EFs was not affected by the form of bullying, source of report, facet of EFs, EF measurement, gender, age, and culture., Conclusions: The present meta-analysis revealed a relationship between school bullying and EFs. Both bullies and victims appear to have lower EF levels. The results also emphasized that lower inhibitory control was more likely to be a crucial risk factor for bullying behavior., (© 2024 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

Sexual harassment inflicted by adolescents on their peers is a major public health issue, but its prevalence across childhood is not known. We provide the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of peer sexual harassment across childhood, using cross-sectional data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The ACMS surveyed 8,503 people aged 16 and over about their experiences of child maltreatment and associated health outcomes. The prevalence of peer sexual harassment was assessed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ)-R2 Adapted Version (ACMS), with survey data weighted to reflect characteristics of the Australian population. Overall, 1 in 10 (10.4% (95% Confidence Intervals (CI) [9.7, 11.3])) Australians experienced peer sexual harassment during childhood. Peer sexual harassment is an issue disproportionately affecting gender-diverse individuals (24.0%, 95% CI [15.5, 35.2]) and women (15.3%, 95% CI [14.0, 16.7%]), compared to men (5.0%, 95% CI [4.3, 5.9]). Rates of peer sexual harassment were also very high among sexuality diverse participants (prevalence estimates ranging between 14.2% and 29.8%). Peer sexual harassment was predominately inflicted by male peers (9.6%, 95% CI [8.9, 10.4]), compared to 1.8% (95% CI [1.5, 2.2]) reporting harassment from female peers. These findings have implications for understanding and reducing attitudes supporting peer sexual harassment in childhood, particularly against girls and gender and sexuality diverse youth, and associations with other gendered violence both in childhood and later life., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Many new surveys have been developed to assess the prevalence of online sexual abuse. An important type of question asked in many of these surveys is about online sexual solicitation. However, not all sexual solicitations of children necessarily qualify as sexual abuse as it has conventionally been defined. Sexual solicitations from other same age youth may be legal and nonabusive. Solicitations of youth above the age of consent by adults may also be legal. At the same time, many true online sex offenses may not be identified with questions about solicitation wanted or unwanted. This article reviewed 25 online sexual abuse survey reports. It also examined episodes and narratives from the U.S. National Technology Facilitated Abuse (TFA) survey, which asked about online solicitation and other online sexual offenses. Among the surveys reviewed, 9 of 25 elicited and counted online sexual solicitation from adults only, but the rest counted other youth solicitors as well as adults. Eight of 25 asked about only "unwanted" solicitations, but the rest had no such qualification, possibly including solicitations with positive or neutral reactions. Analysis of the TFA survey showed that in over half of solicitation episodes, the recipients did not actually know the age or identity of the solicitor. Very large differences in prevalence rates can occur depending on what types of solicitation are counted and how missing information is classified. Recommendations are made about classifying and reporting on findings about online solicitation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The objective was to analyze the temporal effects of age, period, and cohort on mortality from all female homicides, and from female homicides and by firearms, in Brazil from 1980 to 2019. Data were accessed from Brazilian health records. There was an increase in the risk of death in the 2000s in the North and Northeast regions and a decrease in the Southeast, South, and Midwest. Younger women had a higher risk of death than women born between 1950 and 1954. The findings may be correlated with the inefficiency of the Brazilian state in protecting female victims of violence., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Victimization of college students is widespread, and it is not uncommon for students to disclose these experiences to faculty. Given that how faculty respond to disclosures may have implications for students' psychosocial and academic outcomes, it is key to know more about disclosures to help faculty prepare a supportive response. This study used data from an online survey of members of two U.S.-based professional scholarly associations for criminal justice and criminology ( N  = 637) to look at the nature of student disclosure of victimization and which faculty are more likely to receive such disclosures. Disclosure to faculty was widespread (87% of faculty had received at least one disclosure of victimization from a student), and disclosures were mostly made in person. Over half the time (52.3%), participants thought the disclosure was prompted by an incident in class or another aspect of the course, and more than a quarter of the time (28.8%), the disclosure came from a student in a course that utilized trigger warnings. A faculty member's individual identities, such as gender or race and ethnicity, did not appear to render them more or less likely to receive student disclosures. However, faculty with victimization experiences who had links to victim services organizations, who were teaching in a Sociology department, or who had been teaching longer were more likely to have received a disclosure. Graduate student instructors were less likely to have received a disclosure, even controlling for years of teaching. This suggests widespread training of college-level instructors in how to respond to a student's disclosure of victimization may be warranted, at least for faculty teaching courses focusing on criminology and criminal justice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Despite extant literature on individual-level risk factors for sex trafficking among children and adolescents, little is known about the impact of social and ecological contexts on risk of human trafficking victimization. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlates signaling risk of human trafficking victimization at the individual, family, social, and community levels utilizing a sample of 40,531 justice-involved male and female youth, a small fraction of whom were suspected or verified victims of human trafficking between 2011 and 2015 ( N  = 801, including 699 female and 102 male youth). Using this sample, we examined differences across individual, family, social, and community characteristics of youth involved in the juvenile justice system who have a history of trafficking victimization and youth without such histories. Series of logistic regression analyses were conducted using varying control groups, created through exact matching and randomized matching groups to address sample imbalances. These analyses indicate that, at the individual level, youth who had experienced childhood adversities were more likely to report human trafficking victimization. Sex differences were found regarding risk factors pertaining to the family and broader socio-ecological contexts. Female youth who had witnessed family violence had an antisocial partner or antisocial friends, or resided in a community with a greater proportion of the population being foreign-born or speaking English less than very well were at heightened risk for human trafficking victimization. Little evidence was found for community-level risk factors of victimization in this specific sample of justice-involved youth. These findings encourage more research to unpack the multilevel correlates of victimizations at the individual, family, social, and community levels, recognizing potential differences between female and male youth regarding the factors that put them at heightened risk for juvenile sex trafficking victimizations. Practice and policy should direct awareness and prevention measures to social and ecological contexts., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Research has shown that experiencing a sexual assault results in significant and lasting effects in many psychosocial domains. However, most studies on the impact of sexual assault examine university samples or the immediate aftermath of the assault, not taking into account the longer-term complexities and contexts of life for many victims. The current study seeks to evaluate the role of lifetime sexual assault history on several psychosocial outcomes in adults who are in intimate relationships that have included both intimate partner violence (IPV) and alcohol use disorder. The study included 100 adult romantic couples who were part of a larger project addressing violence and alcohol use. A majority of participants were Caucasian (74.3%) and female (53%). Participants reported on lifetime sexual assault history, depression, perceived stress, maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation, and perceived intimate relationship functioning. Multilevel analyses controlled for couple interdependence as well as current levels of alcohol use and IPV. Results indicated that the presence/absence of sexual assault was only related to perceived life stress ( p  = .016), while the total number of lifetime assault experiences was related to depression symptoms ( p   <  .001), perceived life stress ( p  = .052), maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation ( p  = .048), and dyadic adjustment ( p  = .003). These findings underscore the importance of investigating sexual assault outcomes in complex populations, as well as the need for more thorough and regular assessment of sexual assault history. Focusing on empowerment and recovery for sexual assault victims of any age is an important tool to prevent the detrimental outcomes that particularly accompany multiple victimizations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

This cross-sectional study examined students' (Campus 1, n  = 1,153; Campus 2, n  = 1,113) experiences with four situations of direct confrontation of those at risk for sexual assault perpetration. The most reported opportunity was to confront those making false statements about sexual assault; many students reported more than one opportunity to intervene in the past year. Bystanders intervened most of the time across the four situations examined in this study. The most reported consequence of intervening was that no further harm was caused. More nuanced measures can offer practitioners further information to tailor sexual violence prevention programs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults in South Africa face high levels of violence and poor mental health outcomes. Interventions to prevent these negative health implications are hampered by a lack of representative data among this population. This study aims to quantify the associations between three forms of violent victimization and depressive symptoms in a sub-sample of SGM drawn from a population-based cross-sectional study in Gauteng, South Africa. Data come from the sixth Quality of Life survey conducted in South Africa's Gauteng province. Brief screeners assessed childhood sexual abuse (CSA), past-year intimate partner violence (IPV), non-partner violence, and depressive symptoms. Three survey-weighted logistic regression analyses were fit to model associations between elevated depressive symptoms and CSA, past-year IPV, and past-year non-partner violence, controlling for socio-demographics (age, race, sex, area of residence, education, socioeconomic status, and recent employment). N  = 1,328 SGM respondents were included. Over 40% ( n  = 537) reported depressive symptoms, while 17% ( n  = 222) reported CSA, 5% ( n  = 67) reported IPV, and 16% ( n  = 208) reported non-partner violence. CSA and non-partner violence were associated with significantly higher odds of reporting depressive symptoms (aOR: 1.51, 95% CI [1.03, 2.23]; aOR: 1.84, [1.24, 2.73], respectively). IPV was not associated with elevated depressive symptoms (aOR: 1.17, [0.64, 2.16]). In all models, employment in the past 7 days was associated with significantly lower odds of reporting depressive symptoms. Recent and childhood violence is a major burden that is associated with elevated symptoms of depression among SGM in urban South Africa. Community-tailored interventions and policy-related advocacy related to employment and violence prevention may alleviate depressive symptoms in SGM adults in Gauteng., Competing Interests: Authors NoteNicholas Metheny is also affiliated to University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared a potential conflict of interest (e.g., a financial relationship with the commercial organizations or products discussed in this article) as follows: Dr. Metheny received compensation as a consultant from the Gauteng Region City Observatory.

Few victims of sexual assault (SA) report to the police. Research on the role of support persons in victims' reporting is sparse. We address this gap by examining the association of victim, assailant, victimization incident, and support characteristics with reporting rates among victims attending sexual assault care centers (SACCs). Logistic regression results show that type of SA, delay between SA and presentation at SACC, and presence of an informal support person at SACC and SACC site are significantly associated with police reporting. These findings reveal the importance of targeting victims' support persons to alter reporting behavior among SA victims., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Economic abuse is a common component of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study explored whether IPV victim and perpetrator financial health at relationship outset are associated with two types of economic abuse-restriction and exploitation-during the relationship. With a sample of 315 women seeking services for male-perpetrated IPV, the study showed increased use of economic restriction when perpetrators were advantaged in terms of assets or disadvantaged in terms of debt. There was increased use of economic exploitation when victims were advantaged in terms of assets or credit and when perpetrators were disadvantaged in terms of assets, debt, or credit. Implications for research and intervention are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

In the United States, campus sexual violence research has mostly focused on 4-year residential campuses. The experiences of students on nonresidential campuses are less well understood. Using data from a Web-based campus climate survey, this study explores sexual assault and sexual harassment victimization rates, victimization characteristics, and post-assault help-seeking across nonresidential and residential students in a campus system that contains both residential and nonresidential campuses. Our analyses highlight that sexual victimization rates, characteristics, and post-assault help-seeking patterns vary by campus type. Interestingly, while nonresidential students on nonresidential campuses reported lower rates of victimization, they accessed formal support resources at higher rates than students on a residential campus. Findings underscore the importance of accounting for campus type in campus sexual violence research and programming and to center nonresidential campuses to learn more about the strategies they adopt to address their students' unique victimization needs and experiences.

Background: The link between school bullying and eating disorders is a complex issue that is poorly understood globally, and is further complicated by the distinct cultural nuances within China. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the association between different types of bullying and the risk of eating disorders among college students in Shantou City, China. Additionally, this study explores the mediating role of body dissatisfaction in the relationships between bullying roles and the risk of eating disorders., Methods: The present study employed a convenience sampling technique to recruit college students aged 16 years or older from a university in Shantou. The survey encompassed socio-demographic data, as well as measures of bullying and the risk of eating disorders. Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, logistic regression, chi-square test, and mediation analysis were used to analyze the results., Results: A total of 1643 students were investigated in this study, revealing a prevalence of the risk of eating disorders at 29.21%. Additionally, the prevalence of bullying was found to be 5.78% for bullies, 24.83% for victims, and 28.36% for bully-victims. Furthermore, all types of bullying showed a significant positive correlation with the risk of eating disorders. Notably, gender differences were observed in the associations among social manipulation, cyber victimization, cyber perpetration, and the risk of eating disorders, with males exhibiting stronger correlations. Body dissatisfaction plays a mediating role between bullying-victims and the risk of eating disorders., Conclusions: A positive association has been observed between the type of school bullying and the risk of eating disorders among college students in Shantou. Additionally, gender and body dissatisfaction have been identified as significant factors that contribute to the relationship between school bullying and the risk of eating disorders., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Shantou University Medical College (SUMC-2023-001). All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants and their guardians. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Teen dating violence (TDV) is a global public health and safety issue causing health impacts to youth people. This study aimed to examine: (1) the impact of the pandemic on TDV victimisation rates and (2) socioecological factors associated with sustained risk for TDV victimisation during the first year of COVID-19., Methods: Data are from an ongoing randomised controlled trial of a TDV prevention programme in Texas (n=2768). We conducted annual assessments in 2019-2021. We used regression modelling to assess demographic, individual, peer and family factors associated with TDV risks., Results: TDV rates declined from 11.9% in 2019 to 5.2% in 2021. While demographic, peer and family/household factors were not associated with TDV victimisation during the pandemic, individual-level factors (ie, early sexual debut, substance use, acceptance of violence and prior TDV involvement) were related to COVID-era risks. Only early sexual debut was uniquely linked to TDV victimisation risk the first year of COVID-19., Conclusions: While TDV rates declined during the pandemic, previous victimisation, substance use and early sexual debut remained potent risks for relationship harm., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: To understand how crime and victimisation fears and risks operate alongside social status threats and motivations to shape unsafe in-home firearm storage practices and beliefs., Methods: Using data from firearm owners identified in a nationwide sample surveyed in 2023, this study examined how in-home loaded firearm accessibility, firearm storage practice and firearm safety beliefs are associated with: fear of crime and victimisation; perceived and personal victimisation; racial resentment; cultural and status threats; and masculinity threats. Regression models also accounted for the role of gender, race, marital status, political affiliation, geographic region and protective motivation for firearm ownership., Results: Over 40% of firearm owners reported having a loaded firearm 'always accessible' at home, and almost half think homes with firearms are safer than those without. About one-third of owners reported storing firearms locked but still loaded. Crime and victimisation fears and threats were unrelated to firearm storage behaviours and beliefs; however, firearm owners who experience higher levels of sociocultural anxiety are more likely to always have a loaded firearm accessible at home, store firearms locked and loaded, and believe that firearms make homes safer., Conclusions: Identifying the barriers to safer storage beliefs and behaviours is essential for refining and enhancing effective firearm injury prevention strategies. Sociocultural anxieties may not reflect concrete threats to physical safety, but they can be experienced as feelings of insecurity, instability and distress that-for some Americans-may be managed by knowing they have a (loaded) firearm within reach., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Technology-facilitated sexual violence and abuse (TFSVA) encompasses a range of behaviors where digital technologies are used to enable both virtual and in-person sexual violence. Given that TFSVA is an emerging and continually evolving form of sexual abuse, it has been challenging to establish a universally accepted definition or to develop standardized measures for its assessment., Objective: This study aimed to address the significant gap in research on TFSVA within the Chinese context. Specifically, it sought to develop a TFSVA measurement tool with robust content validity, tailored for use in subsequent epidemiological studies within the Chinese context., Methods: The first step in developing the measurement approach for TFSVA victimization and perpetration was to conduct a thorough literature review of existing empirical research on TFSVA and relevant measurement tools. After the initial generation of items, all the items were reviewed by an expert panel to assess the face validity. The measurement items were further reviewed by potential research participants, who were recruited through snowball sampling via online platforms. The assessment results were quantified by computing the content validity index (CVI). The participants were asked to rate each scale item in terms of its relevance, appropriateness, and clarity regarding the topic., Results: The questionnaire was reviewed by 24 lay experts, with a mean age of 27.96 years. They represented different genders and sexual orientations. The final questionnaire contained a total of 89 items. Three key domains were identified to construct the questionnaire, which included image-based sexual abuse, nonimage-based TFSVA, and online-initiated physical sexual violence. The overall scale CVI values of relevance, appropriateness, and clarity for the scale were 0.90, 0.96, and 0.97, respectively, which indicated high content validity for all the instrument items. To ensure the measurement accurately reflects the experiences of diverse demographic groups, the content validity was further analyzed by gender and sexual orientation. This analysis revealed variations in item validity among participants from different genders and sexual orientations. For instance, heterosexual male respondents showed a particularly low CVI for relevance of 0.20 in the items related to nudity, including "male's chest/nipples are visible" and "the person is sexually suggestive." This underscored the importance of an inclusive approach when developing a measurement for TFSVA., Conclusions: This study greatly advances the assessment of TFSVA by examining the content validity of our newly developed measurement. The findings revealed that our measurement tool demonstrated adequate content validity, thereby providing a strong foundation for assessing TFSVA within the Chinese context. Implementing this tool is anticipated to enhance our understanding of TFSVA and aid in the development of effective interventions to combat this form of abuse., (©Sharon Hoi Lam Pak, Chanchan Wu, Kitty Wai Ying Choi, Edmond Pui Hang Choi. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 19.11.2024.)

Introduction: Problematic gaming (PG) is a serious issue among adolescents worldwide, and there is evidence suggesting that school bullying behaviors may be associated with increased rates of PG. This study aimed to examine the associations between school bullying behaviors and PG among adolescents, with a focus on sex effects., Methods: A total of 20,197 participants were recruited from the 2023 School-based Chinese Adolescents Health Survey. Information about school bullying behaviors and PG was measured. Sampling weights were utilized to estimate the prevalence, and weighted logistic regression models were executed. Stratified analyses by sex were performed., Results: Among Chinese adolescents, the weighted prevalence of PG was 4.2%, 8.1% were identified as victims, 1.8% as bullies, and 3.4% as bully-victims. A higher frequency of school bullying behaviors corresponds to a higher prevalence of PG. After adjusting for covariates, victims (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.03-1.73), bullies (AOR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.39-3.11), and bully-victims (AOR = 2.75, 95% CI = 2.09-3.61) were associated with PG. Moreover, the severity of PG tended to increase with the number of involved in school bullying behaviors. The interaction terms of bully-victims and sex were significant. Further stratified analyses by sex indicated that the association of school bullying behaviors with PG was stronger for females than males, especially those identified as bully-victims., Conclusion: School bullying behaviors are associated with PG among adolescents, with a stronger association found in female adolescents, particularly those identified as bully-victims. These findings suggest that implementing prevention and control measures for school bullying could help reduce PG among adolescents., Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was conducted by the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health Institutional Review Board. The participants provided written informed consent to participate in this study. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Research on the associations of type-specific bullying victimization and poly-bullying victimization with suicidal ideation is limited and contradictory. This study aimed to examine these associations among school-aged adolescents., Methods: A total of 13,258 students from 3 middle schools and 4 high schools in a southern city in China completed a cross-sectional questionnaire in 2019. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine associations between type-specific bullying victimization and poly-victimization with suicidal ideation., Results: The latent class analysis identified three subgroups of suicidal ideation: low (70.0 %), moderate (24.0 %), and high (6.0 %). Compared with non-bullying victimization in the past year, the corresponding adjusted odds ratios [aOR] (95 % CI) of moderate and high suicidal ideation for only physical victimization were 1.74 (1.15, 2.63) and 2.51 (1.18, 5.38), respectively, for only relational victimization were 1.26 (0.97, 1.62) and 2.48 (1.65, 3.71), respectively, for only verbal victimization were 1.45 (1.17, 1.78) and 1.42 (0.90, 2.22), respectively, for only property victimization were 1.30 (1.03, 1.65) and 1.31 (0.80, 2.16), respectively, and for sexual victimization were 1.38 (1.03, 1.83) and 2.45 (1.50, 3.99), respectively. Poly-bullying victimization was associated with moderate (aOR two  = 1.45 (1.24, 1.70); aOR three  = 1.70 (1.41, 2.05), aOR four  = 2.03 (1.61, 2.58), aOR five  = 2.48 (1.74, 3.53)) and high suicidal ideation (aOR two  = 2.01 (1.49, 2.70), aOR three  = 3.87 (2.86, 5.25), aOR four  = 4.55 (3.20,6.46), aOR five  = 7.90 (5.06, 12.33))., Limitations: The research design is cross-sectional, and relevant data was based on self-reports., Conclusions: Different types of bullying victimization were associated with suicidal ideation and poly-bullying victimization and suicidal ideation association shows a dose-response-relationship., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors have declared any potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Exposure to multiple forms of victimisation in childhood (often referred to as poly-victimisation) has lifelong adverse effects, including an elevated risk of early-adulthood psychopathology. However, not all poly-victimised children develop mental health difficulties and identifying what protects them could inform preventive interventions. The present study investigated whether individual-, family- and/or community-level factors were associated with lower levels of general psychopathology at age 18, among children exposed to poly-victimisation. Additionally, it examined whether these factors were specific to poly-victimised children or also associated with fewer mental health difficulties in young adults regardless of whether they had been poly-victimised., Methods: We used data from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a population-representative cohort of 2,232 children born in 1994-1995 across England and Wales and followed to 18 years of age (with 93% retention, n = 2,066). Poly-victimisation (i.e., exposure to two or more of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect, physical neglect, bullying by peers, and domestic violence) and nine putative protective factors (intelligence quotient, executive functioning, temperament, maternal and sibling warmth, atmosphere at home, maternal monitoring, neighbourhood social cohesion, and presence of a supportive adult) were measured prospectively between ages 5 and 12 years from interviews with mothers and children, surveys of neighbours, child-protection referrals, and researchers' observations. Early-adulthood psychopathology was assessed in interviews with each twin at age 18 and used to construct a latent factor of general psychopathology., Results: Approximately a third (n = 720) of participants were prospectively defined as exposed to poly-victimisation (53% male). Poly-victimised children had greater levels of general psychopathology at age 18 than non-poly-victimised children (adjusted [adj.] β = 4.80; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 3.13, 6.47). Presence of a supportive adult was the only factor robustly associated with lower levels of general psychopathology among poly-victimised children (adj.β = -0.61; 95% CI -0.99, -0.23). However, this association was also evident in the whole sample regardless of poly-victimisation exposure (adj.β = -0.52; 95% CI -0.81, -0.24) and no significant interaction was observed between the presence of a supportive adult and poly-victimisation in relation to age-18 general psychopathology., Conclusions: Having at least one adult to turn to for support was found to be associated with less psychopathology in early adulthood among both poly-victimised and non-poly-victimised children. This suggests that strategies to promote better availability and utilisation of supportive adults should be implemented universally. However, it may be beneficial to target these interventions at poly-victimised children, given their higher burden of psychopathology in early adulthood.

Background: In forensics, the term overkill refers to the modus operandi of the offender that goes beyond the immediate need to kill the victim, but not beyond the borders of cruelty. The killer - unable to stop his murderous impulse - seems to want to make sure the victim is dead, repeatedly hitting the corpse. From a forensic point of view, this type of murder is characterized by bloody crime scenes and the discovery of brutal wounds on the victim's body., Aims: Through an examination of suggestive cases, we aim to identify and analyse the forensic aspects of overkill. The study aims to provide a framework of the findings in this type of murder to guide forensic assessment and allow differential diagnosis with others type of homicide., Methods: In our study, we examined all the murders occurred in Rome between 1999 to 2015, closed with a final sentence and/or archived. We have therefore selected 18 cases where the crime has degenerated into overkill, because characterized by repeated and several signs of aggression on the body of the victim. For each case, there were analyzed the crime scenes and there were performed complete autopsies., Results: Only in one case the killer was a woman. In most cases victim and killer were partners. As for the motive, in 38.8% of the cases there was a passionate motive, followed by a neighborhood problem (22.2%) and money motive (17%). The sharps were the most used weapons; only in two cases firearms were used. The 39% of our cases had < 10 wounds on the victim's body; only in one case were more than 40 wounds.

Background: Bullying and victimization have been studied in many contexts and classified as peer victimization in school settings and parental or sibling victimization within family settings. Yet, current research is scarce on whether victimization occurring within family settings is specific to parental or sibling victimization. Thus, the current study aims to develop a scale assessing victimization conducted by relatives and provide support for its psychometric properties., Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were collected from university students (1622 and 1045 students, respectively) and participants responded to questionnaires via an online survey., Results: EFA and CFA results demonstrated the unidimensionality of the Relative Victimization Scale (RVS) consisting of eight items. In terms of convergent validity, RVS scores were correlated with the scores on parental, sibling, and peer victimization scales and several psychological health outcomes including depression, anxiety, social anxiety, perceived stress, loneliness, negative and positive affect, life satisfaction, and resilience. Moreover, RVS explained a significant amount of variance beyond the contribution of parental, sibling, and peer victimization in those psychological health outcomes for the support of incremental validity., Conclusions: The findings of the study indicated the potential utility of the RVS in assessing the experience of relative victimization through offering support for internal consistency reliability and construct, longitudinal predictive, and incremental validity., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a significant public health issue, with its health and social consequences well documented. While CSA has been extensively studied in high-income countries, its incidence and circumstances of occurrence in low-income countries, especially in Africa, remains under-represented in the scholarly literature., Methods: This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and circumstances of CSA among victims assisted at the Forensic Service of the Hospital Central de Maputo in Mozambique. A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted using secondary data from 2015 to 2020, extracted from the medico-legal reports of all victims under 18 years old. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0., Results: 2610 cases of CSA were reported for the period 2015 to 2020, of which 2588 were included for analysis. Of the cases analysed, the majority of victims were girls (93.7 %), predominantly aged 12-17 years (48.6 %). The reported types of penetration revealed that vaginal penetration was the most frequent (86 %), followed by anal (11 %) and oral (2 %). Most assaults occurred either at the victims' or perpetrators' homes (54.8 %), primarily during the week (71.1 %), and typically in the afternoon (36.5 %) or evening (41.9 %). The assaults were predominantly perpetrated by a single individual (88.7 %), who was most often identified as an acquaintance (72.9 %). Additionally, 54.1 % of the children experienced concomitant physical violence, and approximately 74.9 % of the perpetrators did not use condoms during the assault., Conclusions: The findings of this study underscore the urgent need to implement prevention measures specifically targeting adolescent girls and younger boys, aiming to promote early reporting and prevent mental, physical, and sexual and reproductive health complications. Raising awareness about all forms of child abuse, including sexual abuse, and enhancing reporting and diagnostic systems in Mozambique is crucial., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Qualitative research on child sexual abuse (CSA) in youth serving organizations (YSOs) indicates that powerful, high-status persons are better able to abuse children, because they have a superior capacity to obtain the acquiescence and overcome the resistance of children to their abusive advances, evade detection of their abusive behavior, and escape accountability for their detected abuse., Objective: We conduct quantitative empirical analyses designed to confirm the presumption that powerful, high-status persons are better able to abuse children in YSOs., Setting: We analyzed 85 episodes of CSA linked to Boys and Girls Clubs (BGCs) affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, identified by a Hearst Connecticut reporting team., Method: We conduct multivariate analyses that estimate the relationship between two sources of perpetrators' power and status (occupancy of a leadership position in their BGC and affiliations with other YSOs in their local BGC's community) and two public health consequences of the CSA they perpetrated (the duration of their abuse and the number of children they abused), controlling for a battery of possible confounds., Results: Episodes of abuse perpetrated by persons who were leaders of their local BGCs victimized 1.9 more club-affiliated children than those that were perpetrated by lower-level staffers, while episodes of abuse perpetrated by persons affiliated with other YSOs in their local BGC's community on average were 3.3 years longer and victimized 1.8 more club-affiliated children than those that were perpetrated by persons not affiliated with other YSOs., Conclusion: YSO child safety measures, which currently focus on lower-level staffers' potential to abuse children, should be augmented to increase their focus on YSO leaders' and prominent community members' abusive potential., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Numerous studies have explored the association between social anxiety and bullying victimization. However, inconsistency are found regarding the strength and the direction of this relationship. Moreover, it remains unclear how different subtypes of bullying victimization associate with social anxiety., Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to systematically investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between social anxiety and bullying victimization., Participants and Setting: Individuals experiencing social anxiety and bullying victimization., Methods: The present study employed three-level random effects model to combine the correlation coefficients r to indicate the strength of the cross-sectional association between social anxiety and bullying victimization. Cross-lagged regressions were utilized to examine the prospective relationship between both variables., Results: A total of 133 cross-sectional studies reporting 220 effect sizes were included in the meta-analysis, and the results showed a significant moderate association between social anxiety and bullying victimization (r = 0.268, 95 % CI [0.244, 0.292]). Nineteen longitudinal studies were also identified, revealing that social anxiety at Time 1 significantly predicted bullying victimization at Time 2 (β = 0.067, 95 % CI [0.038, 0.096]). However, bullying victimization did not significantly predict subsequent social anxiety (β = 0.012, 95 % CI [-0.026, 0.049]). Subgroup analyses revealed that social anxiety had the strongest association with relational victimization (r = 0.382, 95 % CI [0.335, 0.430]), followed by reputational victimization (r = 0.254, 95 % CI [-0.171, 0.337]), physical victimization (r = 0.226, 95 % CI [0.144, 0.308]) and overt victimization (r = 0.202, 95 % CI [0.146, 0.257]). Social anxiety was significantly more associated with traditional bullying victimization (r = 0.281, 95 % CI [0.233, 0.328]) than cyberbullying victimization (r = 0.177, 95 % CI [0.137, 0.218]; p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Social anxiety was found to be moderately associated with and prospectively predict bullying victimization. Future research and interventions could focus on reducing social anxiety to prevent bullying victimization., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Beginning early in fetal development, the androgen receptor (AR) gene helps regulate bodily exposure to testosterone. Most studies of individuals have found an inverse correlation between the number of CAG repeats on this gene and serious forms of physical aggression. This two-phased study was primarily undertaken to determine if a link between AR CAGn and physical aggression also exists at an ecological level of analysis. To make this assessment, we first conducted a bivariate analysis of the average number of AR CAG repeats for a large number of countries and the rates of crime victimization in those same countries. Except for motor vehicle theft, as the national average number of CAG repeats increased, crime victimization rates decreased. This inverse relationship was especially strong for violent offenses. In the second phase of this study, we sought to determine if per capita gross domestic product, pathogen prevalence, and average intelligence might be mediating some of the AR CAG repeats-criminality relationship. Mediation analysis analysis indicated that, once gross domestic product and pathogenic prevalence were controlled, average intelligence was able to eliminate most of the links between CAG repeats and crime victimization rates, especially in the case of violent offenses. These findings suggest that the AR gene is not influencing criminality primarily by altering testosterone brain exposure (as we suspected). Instead, it may affect criminality mainly by affecting cognitive ability. In fact, once average national intelligence is included in the mediation analysis model, direct relationships between CAG repeats and measures of homicide, assault, and robbery were no longer statistically significant. Findings from this two-phased study point toward the AR gene as having multiple effects on brain functioning, particularly regarding intellectual development as hypothesized by Manning [62]. Replication is obviously needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Filicide is the act of a parent killing their own offspring. Previous studies indicate that there are both commonalities and distinctions between filicides committed by mothers and fathers. The main objective of this study was to compare maternal and paternal filicide with a major focus on clinical and sociodemographic features of perpetrators, incident details, and victims. Filicide cases were examined at the bedded unit of the Expertise Department of Observation of the Council of Forensic Medicine that were referred by the Turkish Ministry of Justice. A total of 51 perpetrators and 57 victims were analyzed from June 2014 to December 2023. The perpetrators were daily face-to-face interviewed by psychiatry and forensic medicine physicians. There were significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric conditions between maternal and paternal cases. Female perpetrators tended to be younger, unemployed, mostly targeted younger victims and used asphyxiation to kill, whereas males tended to target older victims and utilized firearms. The most common primary cause of filicide in maternal cases was "unwanted pregnancy," whereas "spousal revenge" and "anger or impulsivity" were predominant in paternal filicides. All perpetrators who were not criminally responsible were mothers, mostly diagnosed with psychotic depression. Unwanted pregnancy, psychotic depression, and postpartum psychosis should be assessed when evaluating risk for mothers, especially for infanticide. The desire for revenge on a spouse, often seen with personality disorders, impulsivity and anger, access to firearms should be screened for risk of paternal filicide, particularly in older victims. Early recognition of these factors can help in implementing prevention strategies., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Forensic Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

This study examined associations between sexualized media consumption, sexual double standard (SDS) norms, and sexual coercion perpetration and victimization in late adolescence and whether these associations were moderated by gender. Participants were sexually active Dutch secondary school students aged 16-20 years (N = 255, 58.4% girls). Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire at a single time-point. Overall, more sexualized media consumption was associated with higher odds of both sexual coercion perpetration and victimization. These associations did not differ by gender. Specifically, viewing online pornography and sexually oriented reality television more frequently were associated with higher odds of sexual coercion perpetration, whereas viewing others' sexy social media posts more frequently was associated with higher odds of sexual coercion victimization. Finally, stronger endorsement of SDS norms was associated with lower odds of sexual coercion perpetration in girls, but with comparatively higher odds of sexual coercion perpetration in boys. Results indicate that consuming sexualized media and societal sexual double standards is associated with an increased risk of sexual coercion experiences in adolescence., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interests: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interest to disclose. Ethics Approval: The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Utrecht University approved the study (FETC17-100). Consent to Participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Few studies have assessed the burden of mental disorders in adolescents related to bullying victimization at the global, regional, and national levels. We analyzed adolescent mental disorder disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributed to bullying in 204 countries, following the Global Burden of Disease study 2019 framework. The DALYs rate of adolescent for bullying-related mental disorders global increased from 110.45 (95 % uncertainty intervals (UI): 40.76, 218.62) per 100,000 in 1990 to 138.92 (95 % UI: 54.37, 268.19) per 100,000 in 2019. The largest increase in DALYs rates were obvious in low-SDI and high-SDI regions. In 2019, the DALYs rate of adolescents with bullying-related anxiety disorders was 1.4 times higher than those depressive disorders; the DALYs rate of adolescents with bullying-related mental disorder in females was 1.3 times higher than that of male, and older adolescent (15-19 years old) was 1.4 times higher than younger adolescent (10-14 years old). High-income North America had the fastest increase in DALYs rates of mental disorders related to bullying. In general, a positive correlation was observed between bullying DALY rate of adolescent and SDIs at the regional and national levels. Our study highlights significant disparities in adolescent mental health burden from bullying. Governments must implement adaptive policies to address diverse needs effectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objectives: No comprehensive analysis has yet been published regarding global trends in childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and bullying victimization (BV). The present study offers a longitudinal perspective on their prevalence worldwide., Methods: CSA and BV rates were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease study, spanning the years 1990 to 2019 across 204 countries. Trends by gender, region, and human development index (HDI) were examined., Results: For both boys and girls, and in both high-HDI and low-HDI countries, CSA rates did not significantly change from 1990 to 2019 (p>0.05). However, BV rates increased significantly in high-HDI and low-HDI countries for both genders (p<0.001). Subsequently, we analyzed trends separately by gender across all countries, without considering development level. In this analysis, CSA rates among girls decreased from 1990 to 2000, followed by an increasing tendency after 2000; overall, an upward trend was evident between 1990 and 2019 (p=0.029). In contrast, no significant pattern was observed for boys. Notably, BV demonstrated an increasing trend across all regions when HDI was not considered (p<0.05), with African populations experiencing the most pronounced rise (p<0.001). Globally, boys consistently exhibited higher BV rates than girls., Conclusions: Our research indicates that, on a global scale, rates of CSA among girls have been rising. Additionally, BV rates have increased in all regions for both boys and girls. Notably, this trend in BV rates is occurring irrespective of HDI. These findings underscore the necessity for targeted interventions in areas with high rates of CSA and BV.

Lay Abstract: Autistic individuals face a higher risk of various forms of victimization throughout their lives, with bullying being especially prevalent during their school years. Previous studies indicate that autistic children are 2.4 times more likely to be bullied than their typically developing peers and twice as vulnerable as those with other disabilities. However, the extent of this issue among Spanish schoolchildren with autism remains unexplored. In addition, there is no information regarding the presence of bullying victimization in children with marked but undiagnosed autistic traits (i.e. subthreshold autistic traits). This study examines the self-reported prevalence of bullying victimization in autistic pre-adolescents and those with subthreshold autistic traits, comparing them with peers without neurodevelopmental conditions. The study involved 323 participants (11 and 12 years old; 45 with autism or subthreshold autistic traits) from Spanish general education schools. The results revealed a higher rate of bullying victimization among autistic participants (58%; 3.1 times higher risk) and those with subthreshold autistic traits (27%; 1.5 times higher risk) compared with their peers without neurodevelopmental conditions (18.3%). Victimization was linked to more intense restrictive behaviours and increased behavioural and emotional problems. No significant associations were found with other individual or family factors. Our findings underscore the heightened risk of bullying faced by autistic pre-adolescents and those with subthreshold autistic traits at school, emphasizing the need to identify and implement preventive measures to mitigate bullying and its detrimental impact on their mental well-being and overall quality of life., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

As a global issue, peer victimization is closely associated with adolescent mental health. Although previous research has explored the relationship between peer victimization and mental health in some contexts, the school context, particularly within the Chinese cultural context, has not received sufficient attention. Based on the Healthy Context Paradox, this study aimed to explore the moderating role of school-level victimization in the relationship between individual-level peer victimization and mental health. This study tested two hypotheses by using a multilevel design: higher individual-level and school-level peer victimization are associated with higher depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction (Hypothesis 1); school-level victimization moderates the association between individual-level peer victimization and mental health (Hypothesis 2). Participants were 39,720 adolescents (50.41% females; M age  = 13.68, SD  = 2.39) across 292 Chinese schools. They completed a set of questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the single-item Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Peer Victimization Scale, and demographics. The multilevel model indicated that both individual-level and school-level peer victimization were positively correlated with depressive symptoms and negatively correlated with life satisfaction. In schools with lower levels of victimization, there was a stronger association between individual peer victimization and adolescent mental health. A potential explanation for these results might be the victimization visibility and perceived severity in different contexts. These findings extended the discussion of the Healthy Context Paradox within the Chinese school context and provided valuable insights for developing school support strategies for victimized adolescents. School management might play a significant role in affecting the mental health of victimized adolescents., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Although numerous predictors of sexual violence (SV) have been identified, there is a need to further explore protective factors and examine the nature and strength of associations between predictors and SV outcomes using a hierarchical predictive model. Cross-sectional data from the My World Survey Post-Second Level (2019) in Ireland were used. The sample contained 8, 288 post-secondary students, 69% female, aged 18 to 25 years ( M  = 20.25, SD  = 1.85). Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify correlates of two SV outcomes (i.e., forced/pressured to have sex and being touched in a sexual manner without consent) across societal, community, relationship, and individual levels. Approximately 25% of females and 10% of males reported being forced/pressured to have sex, whereas 55% of females and 23% of males reported being touched in a sexual manner without consent. Key predictors of SV in multivariate analyses included being female and experiencing violence in a romantic relationship, whereas discrimination, living on campus or in rented accommodation (compared with living at home) were also significant predictors of both SV outcomes. Parental conflict, sexual initiation, depressive symptoms, older age, and an avoidant coping style significantly predicted being forced/pressured to have sex, whereas being bullied and engaging in problem drinking were unique predictors of being touched sexually without consent. Findings highlight the importance of considering salient risk and protective factors at the individual, relationship, community and societal level to predict SV and effectively guide the delivery of interventions and support services for post-secondary students affected by SV., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Aims: To explore the potential of administrative data in assessment of the association between parental socioeconomic position (SEP) and children's violent victimization by biological parents., Methods: A longitudinal register-linkage study based on child-mother and child-father data, including all children born in Finland between 1991 and 2017. The data included 1,535,428 children, 796,335 biological mothers, and 775,966 fathers. We used logistic regression with person-years as observations and cluster-robust standard errors to predict children's violent victimization in 2009-2018 and assessed effect modification by child's age and gender., Results: For the SEP indicators, lower maternal education (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.90, secondary education OR 1.99) and lower paternal education (OR 2.24, secondary education OR 1.59) were risk factors for violent victimization. Parental social assistance receipt (OR 2.4) and non-employment (OR 1.8-1.9) increased the risk of victimization to maternal and paternal violence. Income was associated with victimization in a gradient-like manner, with ORs ranging from 1.14 to 1.98 among mothers and from 1.29 to 2.56 among fathers. Children with low parental SEP were at the highest risk of parental violence, particularly paternal violence, at ages 3-8 years., Conclusions: All indicators of low SEP increased the risk of children experiencing both maternal and paternal physical violence, especially at ages 3-8 years. Longitudinal register data-because of large samples, no nonresponse or self-report bias, and the possibility to analyze violence committed by mother and father and age-groups separately-have great potential for comprehensive research on the risk factors of parental violence that are difficult to reliably assess with other types of data ., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: To test a conceptual model by which emotion dysregulation mediates the association between cyberaggression victimization (CAV) and symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students. Participants: Undergraduate students ( N  = 459) aged 18 to 29 years. Methods: Participants responded to an online questionnaire assessing CAV and distress associated with these experiences. Participants reported on emotion dysregulation, social media use integration, social support, and depression and anxiety symptoms. Results: As expected, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between CAV and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Contrary to expectations, biological sex and social media integration did not moderate the relationship between CAV and emotion dysregulation. Social support reduced the negative effects of emotion dysregulation on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: These findings point to the need for colleges to invest in prevention and intervention efforts to reduce exposure to CAV and the impact of those experiences on the health and well-being of students.