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Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive spatio-temporal analysis of suicide-related emergency calls in the city of Valencia (Spain) over a six-year period. To this end we first examined age and gender patterns and, second, the influence of neighborhood characteristics on general and gender-specific spatio-temporal patterns of suicide-related emergency calls. Method: Geocoded data on suicide-related emergency calls between 2017 and 2022 (N = 10,030) were collected from the 112 emergency service in Valencia. Data were aggregated at the census block group level, used as a proxy for neighborhoods, and trimesters were considered as the temporal unit. Two set of analyses were performed: (1) demographic (age and gender) and temporal descriptive analyses and (2) general and gender-specific Bayesian spatio-temporal autoregressive models. Results: Descriptive analyses revealed a higher incidence of suicide-related emergency calls among females and an increase in calls among the 18-23 age group from 2020 onwards. The general spatio-temporal model showed higher levels of suicide-related emergency calls in neighborhoods characterized by lower education levels and population density, and higher residential mobility, aging population, and immigrant concentration. Relevant gender differences were also observed. A seasonal effect was noted, with a peak in calls during spring for females and summer for males. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for comprehensive mental health targeted interventions and preventive strategies that account for gender-specific disparities, age-related vulnerabilities, and the specific characteristics of neighborhoods.

Objectives: Dating violence is a widespread social problem with increasing prevalence among adolescents. The perceived severity of dating violence is an important factor related to key aspects of this type of violence, such as acceptability, justification, attitudes toward intervention, and victims’ willingness to seek help. The aim of this study was to validate an instrument to assess the perceived severity of dating violence in a sample of adolescents: the Perceived Severity of Adolescent Dating Violence (PS-ADV) scale. Method: Two groups of high school students, one with 621 adolescents (47.2% females) and another with 300 (50% females), aged 13-18 years were selected by a two-stage stratified sampling procedure. Results: The results indicated that the PS-ADV scale has excellent internal consistency (α = .89) and a clear one-factor latent structure (CFI = .96, TLI = .94, RMSEA [90% CI] = .074 [.062, .087]). For validity, the PS-ADV scores were related negatively to victim-blaming attitudes and ambivalent sexism (hostile and benevolent sexism), and positively to empathy (empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy). Conclusions: This study provides evidence that the PS-ADV scale is a psychometrically sound measure for assessing the perceived severity of dating violence among adolescents.

Men with alcohol and/or other drug use problems (ADUPs) court-mandated to attend intervention programs for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators have been identified as a high-risk, highly resistant group of IPV perpetrators, as they present lower treatment adherence and higher dropout and recidivism rates. Previous research suggests that IPV perpetrators with ADUPs may require tailored interventions to address their specific risk factors. The present systematic review was conducted using PRISMA guidelines to identify the specific risk factors in men with and without ADUPs on entry to court-mandated perpetrator programs. The following databases were searched from inception to November 2021: Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus. There was a screening of 3,995 records, and 29 quantitative studies were included in the review. Risk factors present in males court-mandated to perpetrator programs were grouped into four categories: sociodemographic risk factors, personality disorders and psychological adjustment, social-relational risk factors, and risk factors related to attitudes towards women. Results indicated that the main risk factors in IPV perpetrators with ADUPs, compared to those without, were higher clinical symptomatology (e.g., anger and impulsivity), personality disorders, poorer executive functions, having experienced more stressful life events, higher exposure to childhood trauma, lower intimate social support, and higher responsibility attributed to the offenders’ personal context. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex phenomenon of IPV and ADUPs, and could help to inform key targets for perpetrator programs that may improve the well-being of their (ex)partners and increase the effectiveness of intervention programs for IPV perpetrators.

Public perceptions of the severity of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) incidents are an important factor that has been linked to key issues regarding this type of violence, such as acceptability or tolerance, personal sense of responsibility, attitudes toward intervention, and the public’s, professionals’, and victims’ responses to IPVAW. The aim of the present study was to provide further validity evidence for the perceived severity of IPVAW scale (PS-IPVAW), by assessing its measurement invariance between gender and age groups, and between men from the general population and male IPVAW offenders. Item response theory was also used to assess the discrimination of the items and their position on the measured latent trait continuum (i.e., perceived severity of IPVAW). To this end, the psychometric properties of the scale were examined in four different samples from the general population (N = 2,627) and in one clinical sample of male IPVAW offenders (N = 200). Our findings showed that the PS-IPVAW scale has excellent internal consistency (α = .89-.90) and a clear one-factor latent structure (CFI = .91-.96, RMSEA = .055-.086), and that partial strict invariance holds across different gender and age groups. We also found that IPVAW offenders’ perceptions of the severity of IPVAW may follow a different pattern to that of men from the general population. The PS-IPVAW scale is able to yield accurate assessments of the perceived severity of this type of violence among the general population and IPVAW offenders.

The aim of the present study was to identify the main risk factors and treatment needs of batterer intervention program (BIP) participants with alcohol and drug abuse problems (ADAPs), beyond issues strictly related to their substance abuse, taking into account four sets of variables: sociodemographic (i.e., age, educational level, income, employment, and immigrant status); personality disorders and psychological adjustment (i.e., clinical symptomatology, personality disorders, anger, impulsivity, and self-esteem); social-relational variables (i.e., community support, intimate support, stressful life events, and perceived social rejection); and violence-related variables (i.e., family violence exposure, perceived severity of intimate partner violence against women [IPVAW], ambivalent sexism, risk of future violence, physical and psychological intimate partner violence, motivation to change, and stage of change). The study was based on a sample of 1,039 male IPVAW offenders court-mandated to a community-based BIP. Results from comparisons between BIP participants with and without ADAPs were interpreted in terms of effect sizes to highlight the most salient differences. Differences with moderate effect sizes were found for clinical symptomatology, anger trait, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, stressful life events, motivation to change and stage of change. Differences with large effect sizes were found for impulsivity, antisocial disorder, borderline disorder, and aggressive disorder. Several intervention strategies are proposed to guide and adjust interventions to risk factors and treatment needs of BIP participants with ADAPs.

Previous research suggests that the inclusion of motivational strategies in interventions for intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders could increase their effectiveness. This review evaluated the effectiveness of interventions for IPV offenders that includes motivational strategies to reduce physical and psychological IPV, treatment dropout, official recidivism to IPV offending, and to increase intervention attendance dose. The present systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using PRISMA guidelines. The following databases were searched from 1983 to 2018 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions for IPV offenders that incorporated motivational strategies for adult participants that included men and included IPV behaviors as outcomes: Cochrane Collaboration, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL. A total 1,134 studies were identified, 12 RCTs were included in the narrative review and 7 in the meta-analysis. Results indicated that IPV interventions that incorporated motivational strategies were significantly more effective in increasing the intervention dose and reducing dropout than interventions without motivational strategies. IPV offenders receiving interventions with motivational strategies were 1.73 times less likely to intervention dropout compared to those in interventions without such strategies. For physical and psychological IPV and official recidivism (e.g., rearrests, police record), evidence favored interventions with motivational strategies, although not significantly. These findings have important practical implications, especially considering the high dropout rates in IPV offender programs and the link between dropout and higher rates of recidivism.

Motivational strategies are among the most promising approaches to improve the effectiveness of batterer intervention programs (BIPs). An individualized motivational plan (IMP) is one of these motivational strategies. The present study aimed to explore whether adding an IMP to a standard BIP improved the participant-facilitator working alliance and participants’ protherapeutic behaviors. To this end a randomized controlled trial was conducted. One hundred fifty-three men convicted of intimate partner violence were randomly assigned to either a standard BIP (control condition, n = 79) or a standard BIP plus IMP (experimental condition, n = 74). Working alliance (i.e., general working alliance, agreement, and bond) was assessed with the Working Alliance Inventory-Observer, short version. Protherapeutic behaviors (i.e., assumption of responsibility, participant role behavior, and group value) were assessed with the Observational Coding of Protherapeutic Group Behavior. Both working alliance and protherapeutic behaviors were assessed by an external observer early and late in intervention. Our results showed that both general working alliance and agreement and bond, were significantly higher in the standard BIP plus IMP intervention condition, both early and late in intervention. All protherapeutic behaviors were significantly higher in the standard BIP plus IMP early in intervention, and also late in intervention for assumption of responsibility and group value. Our findings have important practical implications as our results clearly showed that a motivational strategy tool such as the IMP improves key intervention processes (i.e., working alliance and protherapeutic behaviors) in BIPs, therefore increasing their effectiveness.

Much of the research conducted on social information processing (SIP) factors predictive of child abuse risk has been conducted in North America, raising questions about how applicable such models may be in other cultures. Based on the premise that the parents’ child abuse risk is affected by both risk and protective factors, the current study considered how specific SIP socio-cognitive risk factors (acceptability of parent–child aggression as a discipline approach; empathic ability; frustration tolerance) as well as social support satisfaction as a resource related to child abuse risk by comparing a sample of mothers in Peru (n = 102) with a sample of mothers in the U.S. (n = 180). Using multi-group regression analyses, the current investigation identified that lower empathy was more salient for the abuse risk of U.S. mothers relative to the salience of lower frustration tolerance for Peruvian mothers. Although effects were observed for the approval of parent-aggression for the child abuse risk of both samples, such approval did not appear to be related to the Peruvian mothers’ actual use of such tactics. When considered alongside the socio-cognitive risk factors, greater social support satisfaction did not significantly relate to child abuse risk for either sample. The findings are discussed in reference to future cross-cultural work that may need to better examine how factors may or may not be universal to craft more culturally informed child abuse prevention programs.

Abstract Background Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a worldwide public health problem. One of the most frequent forms of this type of violence in western societies is psychological IPVAW. According to the European Union (EU) Fundamental Rights Association (FRA) the prevalence of psychological IPVAW in the EU is 43%. However, the measurement invariance of the measure addressing psychological IPVAW in this survey has not yet been assessed. Methods The aim of this study is to ensure the cross-national comparability of this measure, by evaluating its measurement invariance across the 28 EU countries in a sample of 37,724 women, and to examine how the levels of this type of violence are distributed across the EU. Results Our results showed that the psychological IPVAW measure presented adequate psychometric properties (reliability and validity) in all countries. A latent structure of one factor was supported and scalar invariance was established in all countries. The average levels of psychological IPVAW were higher in countries like Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden compared to the rest of the EU countries. In many of the other countries the levels of this type of violence overlapped. Conclusion Our findings underlined the importance of using appropriate statistical methods to make valid cross-national comparisons in large population surveys.

Strategies to reduce intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) can be targeted at different levels. Batterer intervention programs (BIPs) are among the main treatment approaches for IPVAW offenders. The most common outcome used in the evaluation of BIP effectiveness is recidivism. Efforts to increase BIP effectiveness in reducing recidivism should focus on key predictive variables of this outcome. The aim of this study was to identify key predictors of official recidivism from a large set of variables drawn from a sample of IPVAW offenders court-mandated to a community-based BIP (N = 393), with a follow-up period of between 0 and 69 months. To this end, a survival analysis was conducted using four sets of variables: individual-level, relational- and contextual-level, violence-related, and intervention process-related variables. To include all variables in the analysis simultaneously, a Cox regression model was estimated with the adaptive least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (ALASSO). From a pool of eighty-nine variables, six were selected as key predictors of recidivism: dropout, risk of future violence against non-partners, family violence exposure, immigrant status, accumulation of stressful life events, and trait anger. The area under the receiving operator characteristic (ROC) curve was .808, indicating good prediction of the model. The key predictors of recidivism found in this study should be considered by professionals and researchers in the BIP field to improve their evaluation and intervention strategies. Practical implications for future research are also discussed.

Objectives To ensure the cross-national comparability of the set of questions addressing physical and sexual intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) included in the European Union (EU) Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) survey. Once the measurement invariance of these measures is established, we aim to make appropriate and valid comparisons of the levels of physical and sexual IPVAW across the EU countries.Design Cross-sectional, population-based study.Participants Data were drawn from the survey conducted by the FRA on violence against women, including the responses of 42 002 adult women from the 28 countries of the EU.Main outcome measures The set of questions addressing lifetime prevalence of physical and sexual IPVAW used in the FRA survey. The psychometric properties (ie, reliability and validity) of these measures were examined, as well as their latent structure and their measurement invariance across the 28 EU countries.Results The physical and sexual IPVAW measures presented adequate internal consistency and validity evidence based on their relations to other variables in all countries. A latent two-factor structure was supported and scalar invariance was established across countries. Our results showed that the average levels of physical and sexual IPVAW were highest in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and UK compared with the rest of the EU countries. In many of the other countries the levels of these types of violence overlapped, especially in the case of sexual IPVAW.Conclusions The findings of this study showed that the set of questions addressing physical and sexual IPVAW included in the FRA survey can be compared across all EU countries, highlighting the importance of testing the measurement equivalence of the instruments used in large sociodemographic surveys in order to make valid cross-national comparisons.

Abstract Previous research has shown that neighborhood-level variables such as social deprivation, social fragmentation or rurality are related to suicide risk, but most of these studies have been conducted in the U.S. or northern European countries. The aim of this study was to analyze the spatio-temporal distribution of suicide in a southern European city (Valencia, Spain), and determine whether this distribution was related to a set of neighborhood-level characteristics. We used suicide-related calls for service as an indicator of suicide cases (n = 6,537), and analyzed the relationship of the outcome variable with several neighborhood-level variables: economic status, education level, population density, residential instability, one-person households, immigrant concentration, and population aging. A Bayesian autoregressive model was used to study the spatio-temporal distribution at the census block group level for a 7-year period (2010–2016). Results showed that neighborhoods with lower levels of education and population density, and higher levels of residential instability, one-person households, and an aging population had higher levels of suicide-related calls for service. Immigrant concentration and economic status did not make a relevant contribution to the model. These results could help to develop better-targeted community-level suicide prevention strategies.

Abstract Background ‘Place’ matters in understanding prevalence variations and inequalities in child maltreatment risk. However, most studies examining ecological variations in child maltreatment risk fail to take into account the implications of the spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhoods. In this study, we conduct a high-resolution small-area study to analyze the influence of neighborhood characteristics on the spatio-temporal epidemiology of child maltreatment risk. Methods We conducted a 12-year (2004–2015) small-area Bayesian spatio-temporal epidemiological study with all families with child maltreatment protection measures in the city of Valencia, Spain. As neighborhood units, we used 552 census block groups. Cases were geocoded using the family address. Neighborhood-level characteristics analyzed included three indicators of neighborhood disadvantage—neighborhood economic status, neighborhood education level, and levels of policing activity—, immigrant concentration, and residential instability. Bayesian spatio-temporal modelling and disease mapping methods were used to provide area-specific risk estimations. Results Results from a spatio-temporal autoregressive model showed that neighborhoods with low levels of economic and educational status, with high levels of policing activity, and high immigrant concentration had higher levels of substantiated child maltreatment risk. Disease mapping methods were used to analyze areas of excess risk. Results showed chronic spatial patterns of high child maltreatment risk during the years analyzed, as well as stability over time in areas of low risk. Areas with increased or decreased child maltreatment risk over the years were also observed. Conclusions A spatio-temporal epidemiological approach to study the geographical patterns, trends over time, and the contextual determinants of child maltreatment risk can provide a useful method to inform policy and action. This method can offer a more accurate description of the problem, and help to inform more localized prevention and intervention strategies. This new approach can also contribute to an improved epidemiological surveillance system to detect ecological variations in risk, and to assess the effectiveness of the initiatives to reduce this risk.

The high prevalence of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in countries with high levels of gender equality has been defined as the "Nordic paradox". In this study we compared physical and sexual IPVAW prevalence data in two countries exemplifying the Nordic paradox: Sweden (N = 1483) and Spain (N = 1447). Data was drawn from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Survey on violence against women. To ascertain whether differences between these two countries reflect true differences in IPVAW prevalence, and to rule out the possibility of measurement bias, we conducted a set of analyses to ensure measurement equivalence, a precondition for appropriate and valid cross-cultural comparisons. Results showed that in both countries items were measuring two separate constructs, physical and sexual IPVAW, and that these factors had high internal consistency and adequate validity. Measurement equivalence analyses (i.e., differential item functioning, and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis) supported the comparability of data across countries. Latent means comparisons between the Spanish and the Swedish samples showed that scores on both the physical and sexual IPVAW factors were significantly higher in Sweden than in Spain. The effect sizes of these differences were large: 89.1% of the Swedish sample had higher values in the physical IPVAW factor than the Spanish average, and this percentage was 99.4% for the sexual IPVAW factor as compared to the Spanish average. In terms of probability of superiority, there was an 80.7% and 96.1% probability that a Swedish woman would score higher than a Spanish woman in the physical and the sexual IPVAW factors, respectively. Our results showed that the higher prevalence of physical and sexual IPVAW in Sweden than in Spain reflects actual differences and are not the result of measurement bias, supporting the idea of the Nordic paradox.

Willingness to intervene when one becomes aware of a case of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) reflects the level of tolerance and acceptance of this type of violence in society. Increasing the likelihood of intervention to help victims of IPVAW is also a target for prevention strategies aiming to increase informal social control of IPVAW. In this study, we present the development and validation of the Willingness to Intervene in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence (WI-IPVAW) scale. We report data for both the long and short versions of the scale. We analyzed the latent structure, the reliability and validity of the WI-IPVAW across four samples (N = 1648). Factor analyses supported a bifactor model with a general non-specific factor expressing willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW, and three specific factors reflecting different intervention preferences: a preference for setting the law enforcement process in motion (“calling the cops” factor), a preference for personal intervention (“personal involvement” factor), and a preference for non-intervention (“not my business” factor). Configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across genders were supported. Two short versions of the scale, with nine and six items, respectively, were constructed on the base of quantitative and qualitative criteria. The long and short versions of the WI-IPVAW demonstrated both high reliability and construct validity, as they were strongly related to the acceptability of IPVAW, victim-blaming attitudes, perceived severity of IPVAW, and hostile sexism. These results confirm that both the long and short versions of the WI-IPVAW scale are psychometrically sound instruments to analyze willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW in different settings and with different research needs (e.g., long versions for clinical and research settings, and short versions for large population surveys). The WI-IPVAW is also useful for assessing prevention policies and public education campaigns design to promote a more responsive social environment in cases of IPVAW, thus contributing to deter and reduce this major social and public health problem.

In this study, we analyze first whether there is a common spatial distribution of child maltreatment (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV), and second, whether the risks of CM and IPV are influenced by the same neighborhood characteristics, and if these risks spatially overlap. To this end we used geocoded data of CM referrals (N = 588) and IPV incidents (N = 1450) in the city of Valencia (Spain). As neighborhood proxies, we used 552 census block groups. Neighborhood characteristics analyzed at the aggregated level (census block groups) were: Neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (neighborhood economic status, neighborhood education level, and policing activity), immigrant concentration, and residential instability. A Bayesian joint modeling approach was used to examine the spatial distribution of CM and IPV, and a Bayesian random-effects modeling approach was used to analyze the influence of neighborhood-level characteristics on small-area variations of CM and IPV risks. For CM, 98% of the total between-area variation in risk was captured by a shared spatial component, while for IPV the shared component was 77%. The risks of CM and IPV were higher in neighborhoods characterized by lower levels of economic status and education, and higher levels of policing activity, immigrant concentration, and residential instability. The correlation between the log relative risk of CM and IPV was .85. Most census block groups had either low or high risks in both outcomes (with only 10.5% of the areas with mismatched risks). These results show that certain neighborhood characteristics are associated with an increase in the risk of family violence, regardless of whether this violence is against children or against intimate partners. Identifying these high-risk areas can inform a more integrated community-level response to both types of family violence. Future research should consider a community-level approach to address both types of family violence, as opposed to individual-level intervention addressing each type of violence separately.

This study presents data on the development and preliminary validation of an observational scale assessing neighborhood disorder. Independent observations by trained raters of neighborhood disorder were conducted in 552 census block groups in the city of Valencia (Spain). Intraclass correlation coefficients assessing inter-rater reliability indicated fair to substantial levels of agreement among raters. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a final three-factor model scale measuring physical disorder, social disorder, and physical decay. Results for the internal consistency showed large composite reliability indices indicating good reliability for all neighborhood disorder factors. Evidence of criterion-related validity was found by exploring associations between neighborhood disorder factors and three neighborhood characteristics: neighborhood socioeconomic status, immigrant concentration, and residential instability. Also for criterion-related validity, Moran’s I test results for spatial correlation showed that the three types of neighborhood disorder tend to cluster in space and are not randomly distributed across the city. In general, this paper provides evidence of a reliable and valid observational measure to assess neighborhood disorder.

AbstractThis paper describes the journey that the journal Psychosocial Intervention began in 2011, with the aim of increasing its scientific quality and broadening its reach. Founded in 1992, Psychosocial Intervention began a new phase in 2011, with the advent of a new Editor-in-Chief, editorial team, and editorial policy. At that point, strategic decisions were made in the areas of editorial and review practices, language, and dissemination of the journal, which resulted in a publication of higher quality and broader reach. The description of the journey undertaken by Psychosocial Intervention is presented with the hope that this experience may be useful to scholars, scientific organizations, and institutions in the area of psychology that share similar objectives of upgrading the scientific quality of their publications, and broadening their reach.

The aim of this study is to present a psychometrically sound instrument to assess intimate partner violence offenders’ responsibility attributions: the Intimate Partner Violence Responsibility Attribution Scale. The scale was administrated to 423 adult male intimate partner violence offenders court-mandated to a community-based intervention program. A three factor structure (responsibility attribution to the legal system, responsibility attribution to the victim, and responsibility attribution to the offender personal context) was supported using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability of the scales in this study was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha, ρ and greatest lower bound. The Intimate Partner Violence Responsibility Attribution Scale correlated in theoretically expected ways with variables used to assess construct validity (system blaming, problems with partner, and responsibility assumption) and with variables used to assess criterion-related validity (satisfaction with legal system, victim-blaming attitudes, alcohol consumption, hostile sexism, stressful life events, social desirability, impulsivity and household income). Results support the validity and reliability of the Intimate Partner Violence Responsibility Attribution Scale

Introduction: There is growing scientific interest in understanding the biological mechanisms affecting and/or underlying violent behaviors in order to develop effective treatment and prevention programs. In recent years, neuroscientific research has tried to demonstrate whether the intrinsic activity within the brain at rest in the absence of any external stimulation (resting-state functional connectivity; RSFC) could be employed as a reliable marker for several cognitive abilities and personality traits that are important in behavior regulation, particularly, proneness to violence. Aims: This review aims to highlight the association between the RSFC among specific brain structures and the predisposition to experiencing anger and/or responding to stressful and distressing situations with anger in several populations. Methods: The scientific literature was reviewed following the PRISMA quality criteria for reviews, using the following digital databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Psicodoc, and Dialnet. Results: The identification of 181 abstracts and retrieval of 34 full texts led to the inclusion of 17 papers. The results described in our study offer a better understanding of the brain networks that might explain the tendency to experience anger. The majority of the studies highlighted that diminished RSFC between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala might make people prone to reactive violence, but that it is also necessary to contemplate additional cortical (i.e. insula, gyrus [angular, supramarginal, temporal, fusiform, superior, and middle frontal], anterior and posterior cingulated cortex) and subcortical brain structures (i.e. hippocampus, cerebellum, ventral striatum, and nucleus centralis superior) in order to explain a phenomenon as complex as violence. Moreover, we also described the neural pathways that might underlie proactive violence and feelings of revenge, highlighting the RSFC between the OFC, ventral striatal, angular gyrus, mid-occipital cortex, and cerebellum. Conclusions. The results from this synthesis and critical analysis of RSFC findings in several populations offer guidelines for future research and for developing a more accurate model of proneness to violence, in order to create effective treatment and prevention programs.

Intimate partner violence offenders often use victim-blaming attributions to explain their own violentbehavior. These attributions represent an important challenge for intervention programs for intimatepartnerviolence offenders. The main objectives of this study were to analyze both the influence of socialsupport and stressful life events on the psychological adjustment (self-esteem and depressivesymptomatology) of intimate partner violence offenders and the relationship between offenders’psychological adjustment and their victim-blaming attributions. The sample consists of 314 men convictedof intimate partner violence who were referred to a community-based intervention program. Results froma structural equation model showed that social support and stressful life events were related topsychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment also was related to victim-blaming attributions amongintimate partner violence offenders. A better understanding of the relationships between psychologicaladjustment of intimate partner violence offenders and its determinants, as well as its impact on victimblamingattributions, may provide support to new intervention strategies. Implications of these results forimproving the effectiveness of intervention programs are discussed.

Recent legal changes in Spain have led to an important increase in the number of men court-mandated to community-based partner violence offender intervention programmes. However, just a few of those interventions have been systematically examined. This study aims to predict success indicators of an intervention programme for convicted intimate-partner violence offenders. The sample consisted of 212 convicted intimate-partner violence offenders who participated in the Contexto Programme. Three “intervention gains” or target criteria were established (increasing the perceived severity of violence, increasing the responsibility assumption for one’s actions, and reducing the risk of recidivism). A structural equations model was tested, fitting data appropriately. Participants with major gain in recidivism risk were those who presented lower levels of alcohol consumption, shorter sentences, lower impulsivity, and a higher degree of life satisfaction. The largest gain in perceived severity was found in younger participants, participants with shorter sentences, lower alcohol consumption, higher life satisfaction, higher participation in their community, and higher self-esteem. And, finally, participants with the highest gains in responsibility assumption were older participants, participants who presented higher intimate support, higher anxiety, higher sexism, lower anger control, higher depression, higher impulsivity and higher self-esteem.

This article aims to analyze the influence of parental socialization styles (authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent and neglectful), and perceived neighborhood risk on three indicators of conduct problems in adolescence (school misconduct, delinquency, and drug use). The sample consists of 1,017 adolescents, aged between 12 and 17. Results from four multivariate factorial designs yielded only main effects of parenting styles and neighborhood risk. Adolescents from authoritative and indulgent families showed lower conduct problems than those with authoritarian and neglectful parents. Also, higher levels of perceived neighborhood risk were significantly associated with more conduct problems. There were no significant interaction effects between parenting styles and perceived neighborhood risk, but results yielded a significant interaction effect between neighborhood risk and sex. Overall, results do not support the idea that parenting styles are more effective under certain neighborhood risk conditions, and suggest that neighbourhood risk influences adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment beyond the influence of parental socialization styles.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is the most common form of violence suffered by women and constitutes a serious public health problem of global proportions. Public attitudes towards IPVAW are key to understanding the social context in which this type of violence occurs. Victim-blaming attitudes are among those that reflect public tolerance and acceptability of IPVAW and are often used to explain or justify IPVAW. In this study we develop and validate a new instrument to assess victim-blaming attitudes in cases of IPVAW. A sample of 1,800 participants was recruited through social media and a second sample of 50 IPVAW offenders was used for validation purposes. Through a cross-validation approach and by fitting an item response theory model to the data, we found that the latent structure of the instrument was one-dimensional and particularly informative for medium and high levels of victim-blaming attitudes. Differential item functioning analysis showed that item parameters did not differ by gender. We found, in addition, that (a) our measure was strongly related to acceptability and perceived severity of IPVAW, and also to ambivalent sexism, (b) men presented higher levels of victim-blaming attitudes than women, and (c) IPVAW offenders showed higher levels of victim-blaming attitudes than men from the general population. A five-item short version of the scale is also presented for use in studies with limited application time or space. Our findings confirm that this new scale is a reliable and valid measure to assess victim-blaming attitudes in cases of IPVAW.

This paper examines, first, data about perceptions and attitudes in Latin-American immigrants and the Spanish population towards intimate partner violence against women. Secondly, it explores correlates of attitudes towards reporting cases of partner violence against women in a sample of Latin-American immigrants. Three data sources, which include two representative samples of the Spanish population and a sample of Latin-American immigrants, are used. Results show significant differences between Spanish and immigrant perceptions and attitudes toward intimate partner violence against women. Analyses also show that positive attitudes among Latin-American immigrants towards reporting cases of partner violence were more frequent among those who were less tolerant, who perceived it as a major problem in society, and tended not to blame the victims. These results underline the importance of public attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women for the understanding and prevention of this social problem.

In the present study we explore the relationship between perceived neighbourhood social disorder (perceived crime and insecurity in residential areas) and attitudes toward domestic violence against women in Latin-American population in Spain (N =350). Perceived severity of incidents of domestic violence, its acceptability, victim-blaming attitudes and knowing victims of domestic violence are analyzed among immigrant population. Results show that the perception of neighbourhood social disorder is associated with a lower perceived severity of incidents of domestic violence, with greater acceptability of violence, and higher degree of victim-blaming. Also, those residents of disorder neighbourhoods also know more victims of domestic violence. These results suggest the social characteristics in residential areas, such as disorder and deprivation, configure an impoverished social context that might favour attitudes that condone domestic violence against women.

Alcohol outlets have been associated with different social problems, such as crime, violence, intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment. The spatial analysis of neighborhood availability of alcohol outlets is key for better understanding of these influences. Most studies on the spatial distribution of alcohol outlets in the community have been conducted in U.S. cities, but few studies have assessed this spatial distribution in other countries where the drinking culture may differ. The aim of this study was to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of alcohol outlets in the city of Valencia, Spain, and its relationship with neighborhood-level characteristics, as well as to examine the influence of alcohol outlet density on alcohol-related police calls-for-service. Spain is characterized by having a “wet” drinking culture and greater social acceptance of drinking compared to the U.S. Data on alcohol outlets between 2010–2015 in three categories (off-premise, restaurants and cafes, and bars) were used for the analysis. We used the 552 census block groups allocated within the city as neighborhood unit. Data were analyzed using Bayesian spatiotemporal regression models. Results showed different associations between alcohol outlets categories and neighborhood variables: off-premise density was higher in areas with lower economic status, higher immigrant concentration, and lower residential instability; restaurant and cafe density was higher in areas with higher spatially-lagged economic status, and bar density was higher in areas with higher economic status and higher spatially-lagged economic status. Furthermore, restaurant and cafe density was negatively associated with alcohol-related police calls-for-service, while bar density was positively associated with alcohol-related calls-for-service. These results can be used to inform preventive strategies for alcohol-related problems at the neighborhood-level in Spain or other countries with a wet drinking culture. Future research would benefit from exploring the relationship between alcohol availability and different social problems in cities outside the U.S.

This paper aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of drug-related police interventions and the neighborhood characteristics influencing these spatial patterns. To this end, police officers ranked each census block group in Valencia, Spain (N = 552), providing an index of drug-related police interventions. Data from the City Statistics Office and observational variables were used to analyze neighborhood characteristics. Distance to the police station was used as the control variable. A Bayesian ecological analysis was performed with a spatial beta regression model. Results indicated that high physical decay, low socioeconomic status, and high immigrant concentration were associated with high levels of drug-related police interventions after adjustment for distance to the police station. Results illustrate the importance of a spatial approach to understanding crime.