This study aims to determine the relationship between psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and mental health symptoms. Female college students (N = 499) completed anonymous online surveys to report experiences of abuse, as well as symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and physical injuries. Five groups of participants were found: no abuse; psychological abuse; physical abuse; psychological and physical abuse; and psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. The multiple abuse groups showed the highest rate of mental health symptoms. In addition, increased frequency of abuse was related to more mental health symptoms and more physical injuries.

No abstract

Male sexual abuse has been associated with a number of maladaptive outcomes; however, there is a dearth of research on male revictimization, that is, experiences of victimization in both childhood and adulthood. The current study examined different patterns of victimization based on five types of childhood maltreatment and characteristics of adult sexual assault via latent class analysis. Further, the present study assessed differences across these latent classes in the domains of masculinity, anger, and substance use. A community sample of 294 men ranging in age from 18 to 66 years (M = 32.71; SD = 9.73) was recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online research forum. The latent class analysis identified four classes, namely, revictimization (10.9%), adult substance-related victimization (4.8%), childhood maltreatment (23.8%), and low victimization (60.5%). Differential patterns emerged for masculinity, anger, and substance use, with the revictimization and childhood maltreatment classes differing significantly from the adult substance-related victimization and low victimization classes. Compared with the low victimization class, the three victimization classes were elevated on multiple facets of masculinity; the revictimization class was higher on anger and alcohol- and drug use. Results provide evidence that research examining childhood or adulthood victimization experiences in isolation may fail to capture the full range of victimization experiences in men. Findings provide important implications for understanding patterns of victimization among men and how interventions may be targeted to address psychological and behavioral outcomes.

The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) holds promise as a self-report measure that predicts the risk of recidivism and assesses treatment needs for incarcerated populations. However, its validity has been questioned for use with females. Using a random sample of 543 incarcerated women, we assessed the validity of the SAQ by examining differences in scale scores and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves using multiple measures of violent behavior among women. Self-reported violence, versus a violent conviction, was a strong predictor of SAQ scores, but many of those in the most violent group did not meet the published cut scores that indicate treatment need, suggesting the need for adjusting these thresholds for women.

Data on risk perception, sexual victimization, and substance use were obtained via surveys from 496 female college students to determine what factors influence risk perception using a written vignette in which participants make a hypothetical decision to leave a potentially risky situation. Experiences of substance-related (SR) victimization, rather than forcible victimization, were associated with significantly delayed risk perception. SR victimization victims reported feeling uncomfortable significantly later and leaving the scenario significantly later than non-victims. SR victimization victims also had significantly higher scores on heavy episodic drinking (HED), marijuana use, alcohol-related tolerance, and blackouts. Both substance use (HED and marijuana use) and alcohol-related problems (tolerance and blackouts) mediated the link between SR victimization and risk perception in the form of behavioral leave response. In contrast, only HED and tolerance mediated the link between SR victimization and risk recognition. Findings suggest the importance of differentiating types of victimization in predicting risk perception and of addressing substance use in sexual victimization risk reduction interventions.