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Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a serious and prevalent problem among college students. Two factors that may increase risk for in-person IPA are cyber IPA and alcohol use. This study examines the interaction between three types of cyber IPA (cyber psychological, stalking, and sexual IPA) and alcohol use in predicting in-person physical and sexual IPA perpetration. Participants were 268 undergraduate students, who participated in a mass screening at a large midwestern university. More than half of the sample reported perpetrating cyber IPA. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to examine study hypotheses. The R2 for physical IPA perpetration was .69 and the R2 for sexual IPA perpetration was .46. Cyber stalking IPA and alcohol interacted to predict physical IPA perpetration, such that the relationship between cyber stalking IPA and physical IPA perpetration was stronger among individuals who used more alcohol. Contrary to expectations, cyber IPA and alcohol did not interact to predict sexual IPA. However, consistent with hypotheses, cyber stalking IPA was positively associated with sexual IPA perpetration. The high prevalence of cyber IPA and its association with in-person IPA perpetration suggests that prevention programs targeting cyber IPA on college campuses may be warranted.

This study investigated associations between sensitivity to punishment and reward, shame, and eating pathology by testing alternative mediation models in which shame mediated associations between temperament and eating pathology or eating pathology mediated associations between temperament and shame. Participants were 96 female undergraduate students who completed questionnaires. Results indicated shame fully mediated the relationship between sensitivity to punishment and eating pathology. Further, eating pathology did not mediate the association between sensitivity to punishment and shame. In contrast, for sensitivity to reward, shame fully mediated the relationship between sensitivity to reward and eating pathology, and eating pathology fully mediated the relationship between sensitivity to reward and shame. If associations are supported by longitudinal research, results suggest that it may be valuable to develop prevention approaches targeting shame to reduce risk for the development of eating pathology for those who are high in sensitivity to punishment. For those higher in sensitivity to reward, interventions targeting shame may reduce risk for eating pathology and those targeting eating pathology may reduce shame.

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Objective: Women who have experienced trauma report high rates of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and sleep problems. Prior work suggests that poor sleep exacerbates heavy alcohol use; however, potential mechanisms for this association are unclear. Consistent with the self-medication model, one possibility may be that women with a history of trauma are drinking at increased rates in order to cope with the affective consequences of poor sleep. To examine this possibility, the current study tested the role of drinking to cope motives as a mediator of prospective associations between sleep problems and HED among women who have experienced trauma. Method: Community women reporting a history of trauma (N = 414, M age = 21.8, 59.9% White, 36.2% Black) completed self-report measures at baseline and 4 month and 8 month follow-ups. Measures of trauma exposure (Life Events Checklist [LEC]) and sleep problems (Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms-Revised [CHIPS-R]) were taken from baseline, drinking motives (Revised Drinking Motives Questionnaire) at 4 months, and HED at 8 months. Results: Findings supported an indirect association between sleep problems and later HED through increased drinking to cope motives (b = .05, 95% CI [.018, .108], β = .05). Conclusion: As hypothesized, drinking to cope accounted for associations between sleep problems and later HED. Findings underscore the potential value in addressing drinking to cope motives as a means of reducing HED, particularly among women with a history of trauma who are sleeping poorly. Public Health Significance StatementThis study indicates that high rates of heavy alcohol use among women with a history of trauma who are sleeping poorly may be driven by motivations to drink in order to cope with distress. Findings point to sleep problems and drinking to cope as potential targets to reduce heavy episodic drinking (HED) among women who have experienced trauma.