scholarly journals The Association Between Interpersonal Violence and Unstable Housing Among Veterans

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita S Hargrave ◽  
Leigh Kimberg ◽  
Edward L Machtinger ◽  
Margot B Kushel ◽  
Beth E Cohen

ABSTRACT Background Despite programs to address housing for Veterans, they continue to be at high risk of unstable housing. Interpersonal violence is also highly prevalent among Veterans and may contribute to unstable housing. Our study aimed to determine whether interpersonal violence was associated with unstable housing among Veterans, and how this association was influenced by common co-occurring conditions such as substance use and mental illness. Methods Veterans in the Mind Your Heart Study (N = 741) completed survey data on history of interpersonal violence and access to housing in the prior year. Interpersonal violence was defined as experiencing sexual violence, physical violence, or mugging/physical attack using the Brief Trauma Questionnaire. Multivariable models examined associations between interpersonal violence and unstable housing. Primary models were adjusted for age and sex. Potential explanatory factors were added in subsequent models, including marital status, education, income, substance use disorder, PTSD, and other mental illness. Results Veterans who had experienced interpersonal violence had almost twice the odds of unstable housing after adjustment for age and sex (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2–3.0). This association was attenuated in the fully adjusted model including substance use, PTSD, and other mental illness, illustrating the interdependence of these factors (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 0.91–2.5). Subtypes of interpersonal violence were individually associated with increased odds of unstable housing after adjustment for age and sex (physical abuse AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.5; mugging/physical attack AOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.7; sexual violence AOR 1.4, 95% CI 0.89–2.2), but were no longer significant in the fully adjusted model. Conclusions Previous experiences of interpersonal violence were associated with unstable housing among Veterans. Substance use, PTSD, and other mental illness played an important role in this relationship—highlighting the potential to improve health outcomes through trauma informed approaches that address mental health, substance use, and housing concurrently.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S748-S748
Author(s):  
T. Vertommen ◽  
J. Kampen ◽  
N. Schipper-van Veldhoven ◽  
K. Uzieblo ◽  
F. Van Den Eede

IntroductionA recent cohort study in the Netherlands and Belgium showed that 38% of children experienced psychological violence, 11% physical violence, and 14% sexual violence in sport (Vertommen et al., 2016). This study aims to explore the long-term consequences on anxiety, depression and somatic complaints in adults who experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence in the specific context of organized youth sport.MethodsA web survey in a representative sample of adults, prescreened on having participated in organized sport before the age of 18 (n = 4043) was conducted. In this sample, depression, anxiety and somatic problems were assessed using the brief symptom inventory. A generalized linear model was used to quantify the impact of experiencing severe interpersonal violence in sport on psychopathology.ResultsAll three types of severe interpersonal violence (psychological, physical and sexual) were significantly associated with the total score and the subscales of the brief symptom inventory. The effect remains significant after controlling for socio-demographics, as well as disability, sexual orientation, adverse childhood experiences outside sport, recent trauma and family history of psychological problems.ConclusionsExperiencing interpersonal violence against in youth sport is associated with mental health problems in adulthood. This is an important finding to consider in child protection policy in sport.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Autumn Asher BlackDeer ◽  
David A. Patterson Silver Wolf ◽  
Sara Beeler-Stinn ◽  
Bonnie Duran

Background College dropout has been described as an epidemic, with underrepresented minority (URM) students having the highest dropout rates at colleges and universities. This study examines interpersonal violence and substance use as potential threats to the academic success of URM students. Methods This study is a secondary data analysis of the National College Health Assessment. Results Significant decreases for grade point average (GPA) in African American students were associated with physical violence and marijuana use. For Hispanic/Latinx students, physical violence, marijuana use, and methamphetamine use were significantly associated with decreases in GPA. American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian students’ decreases in GPA were significantly associated with marijuana use. Conclusions Results of the study indicated that substance use and interpersonal violence are associated with decreases in GPA for various groups of URM. These findings are disconcerting and relay the importance for colleges and universities to undertake strategies to increase the retention of URM students.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199744
Author(s):  
Emanuele Souza Marques ◽  
Maria Helena Hasselmann ◽  
Gabriela Vasconcellos de Barros Vianna ◽  
Eliane de Paula Mendonça ◽  
Catarina Machado Azeredo

Research focusing on the relationship between interpersonal violence and nutritional status in adolescence is scarce and has distinct results. The objective of this study is to investigate the association of family physical and sexual violence with inadequate nutritional status in Brazilian adolescents. We used data from the 2015 Brazilian National Survey of School Health. This study includes 11.850 students, older than 13 years, attending from sixth to ninth grade of elementary school and from the 1st to the 3rd year of high school. The exposures were family physical violence and rape. The outcome was nutritional status, assessed through body mass index. The association between exposures and outcome were investigated using a multinomial logistic regression model. These analyses were adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, and family variables. The prevalence of family physical violence victimization was approximately 14% among adolescents for both sexes. The prevalence of rape was 4.6% and 5.7% among male and female adolescents, respectively. Family physical violence was not associated with being underweight, overweight, or obese, in either crude or adjusted models for both sexes. Sexual violence was inversely associated with being underweight only for male adolescents (OR: 0.21, CI 95%: 0.06–0.75). In female adolescents, sexual violence was associated with overweight/obesity (OR: 1.64, CI 95%:1.15–2.33). In this study, rape, but not family physical violence victimization, was associated with nutritional status in adolescents of both sexes. Nonetheless, this association was different between boys and girls. Rape was inversely associated with being underweight in male adolescents, whereas, in female adolescents, it was associated with excess body weight.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402095077
Author(s):  
Deepak Sartaj ◽  
Vijay Krishnan ◽  
Ravindra Rao ◽  
Atul Ambekar ◽  
Neeraj Dhingra ◽  
...  

Purpose: The Hijra community is a cultural and gender grouping in South Asia broadly similar to western transgender communities, but with literature suggesting some differences in gender experience and patterns of psychosocial adversity. The present study aims to describe patterns of mental illness and psychoactive substance use in Hijra subjects and study their association with gender experience and psychosocial adversity. Methods: Fifty self-identified Hijras availing HIV-prevention services in New Delhi, India, were interviewed. Data on mental disorders, psychoactive substance use, quality of life, discrimination, empowerment, violence and gender identity were assessed using structured instruments. Results: Subjects were mostly in their mid-twenties, and had joined the Hijra community in their mid-teens. More subjects (46%) were involved in begging than in traditional Hijra roles (38%). Sex work was reported by 28% subjects. The rates of lifetime mental illness was 38%, most commonly alcohol abuse (26%); others had anxiety or depressive disorders (8% each), somatoform disorders (6%) and bulimia nervosa ( n = 1). Disempowerment was mostly experienced in domains of autonomy and community participation; 52% had experienced sexual or psychological violence. Discrimination was attributed to gender (100%), appearance (28%) or sexual orientation (28%). There were negative correlations between the physical domain of WHO-QOL and physical violence and depression scores; and between discrimination and WHO-QOL environmental, physical and psychological domains. Conclusions: This Hijra group showed high rates of mental disorder and substance involvement, related to QOL domains and experiences of discrimination and disempowerment.


Author(s):  
Astrid Margrethe Anette Eriksen

Sami ethnicity has previously not been included in national population-based surveys. Hence, knowledge about violence and sexual abuse among the indigenous Sami in Norway has been sparse. This study is based on data from SAMINOR 2, a population-based, cross-sectional survey on health and living conditions in areas with both Sami and non-Sami in Central and Northern Norway. It includes a total of 11,296 participants: 2,197 (19.4 percent) Sami respondents and 9,099 non-Sami (80.6 percent) respondents. The aim was to assess the prevalence and investigate ethnic differences in sexual, physical, and emotional violence among a population of both Sami and non-Sami women and men. The results show that more Sami women reported emotional, physical, and sexual violence compared to non-Sami women. Almost half of the Sami women and one-third of the non-Sami women reported any lifetime violence. Sami men were more likely to report emotional and physical violence compared to non-Sami men. However, the ethnic differences in sexual violence among men were not significant. Over one-third of the Sami men reported any lifetime violence compared to less than a quarter of the non-Sami men, and most respondents reported violence in childhood. The findings indicate that Sami ethnicity is a risk factor for exposure to lifetime interpersonal violence. The differences remained significant after adjusting for age, educational level, living area, religion, and alcohol intake. For all types of violence, a known perpetrator outside the family was more commonly reported.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Élise Marsollier ◽  
Denis Hauw ◽  
Fabienne Crettaz von Roten

Facing the important methodological limitations of the instruments used for assessing the prevalence of interpersonal violence faced by young athletes, the aim of the present study was to propose and describe the use of a research instrument adapted to young and French-speaking athletes. In addition, by collecting preliminary data with a Swiss sample, we aimed to measure the different forms of interpersonal violence young athletes have experienced at least once during their sport practice. Our questionnaire was based on three existing questionnaires and adapted for a young audience. Regarding prevalence, results showed that among the 210 respondents, 75% declared psychological violence, 53% physical violence, 28% sexual violence and 21% reported no violence. The other results showed that this instrument appears to be well-structured to measure interpersonal violence and understandable for young athletes. Based on the strengths and limits of our instrument, the methodological need of standardization of research instruments is discussed in line with a need of more studies to fully understand the phenomenon.


2020 ◽  
pp. 019372352097357
Author(s):  
Sylvie Parent ◽  
Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel

Recent studies demonstrate that interpersonal violence toward athletes (VTA) is a significant problem in some countries. However, in Canada, little scientific evidence on the prevalence of this issue exists. The objective of this study was to describe the magnitude of interpersonal violence toward young Canadian athletes in the context of sport and to explore associated risk factors. A total of 1,055 athletes, aged between 14 and 17 years, anonymously completed an online survey about their experiences of various types of interpersonal violence in sport. The sample consisted of 763 girls and 292 boys, with a mean age of 15.3 ± 1.1 years. Results showed that 79.2% of athletes reported at least one experience of psychological violence followed by 39.9% reporting physical violence, 35.7% reporting neglect, and 28.2% sexual violence. Being older, being a girl, having specialized in a sport early on, and a high number of hours of weekly practice were related to higher odds of reporting psychological violence or neglect. Being older, being a boy, reporting a nonheterosexual sexual preference, greater number of hours of weekly practice, being in an interregional or provincial sport level, and practicing only team sports were related to higher odds of reporting physical violence. Reporting a nonheterosexual sexual preference and being in an interregional or international sport level were associated with higher odds of reporting sexual violence. In conclusion, this study shows that VTA, particularly psychological violence and neglect, is a serious problem in youth sport in Canada. These results may help to influence public decision makers to intervene and develop and implement strategies to prevent VTA.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lioba Langer ◽  
Frank Neuner

Abstract Background: Revictimization refers to the finding that victims of child abuse have an increased risk of experiencing violence as adolescents and adults. To date, revictimization has been well documented for sexual violence. Recent findings show that the same phenomenon occurs for physical and emotional types of violence and indicate specificity in the relationship. In particular, childhood sexual abuse predicts sexual violence in adulthood and childhood physical abuse predicts future physical victimization. Although emotional violence is among the most harmful types of maltreatment, emotional revictimization has not yet been systematically documented. The aim of this study was to investigate how the three different types of childhood abuse (sexual, physical, and emotional) were related to the three different types of adult victimization (sexual, physical, and emotional).Methods: In an online survey of 135 adult women with high levels of victimization, sexual, physical and emotional experiences of violence were assessed separately for childhood and adulthood.Results: Linear regressions indicated specific relationships between childhood sexual and physical abuse and sexual violence in adulthood (standardized beta coefficients .33*** and .21*), while childhood physical abuse predicts physical violence in adulthood (standardized beta coefficient .44***). Emotional violence experiences in adulthood were predicted by childhood sexual and emotional abuse (standardized beta coefficients .20*** and .08*).Conclusions: The findings partly support the specificity hypothesis of revictimization and have significant implications for practice, particularly for the development of more effective approaches to preventing repeated violence.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 5574-5588
Author(s):  
Bina Ali ◽  
Mona Mittal ◽  
Allison Schroder ◽  
Najah Ishman ◽  
Sylvia Quinton ◽  
...  

Physical and sexual violence are commonly researched as risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, psychological violence and its relationship with HIV risk behaviors have received limited attention among African American/Black (Black) women. This study examined (a) the frequency of recent (past 3 months) psychological violence, physical violence, and sexual violence and (b) the association of HIV risk behaviors, including unprotected sex, sex under the influence of alcohol/drugs, and sex exchange for money/drugs/shelter, with psychological violence. Participants included 191 women (89.2% Black), who were recruited through information sessions held at community centers, Parent Teacher Association meetings, substance use and HIV counseling centers, radio public service announcements, and word of mouth. Interested women participated in a multisession HIV and substance use prevention program and completed a self-reported assessment at program baseline. The current study utilized baseline data collected for a longitudinal study. Results from descriptive analysis indicated that the rate of psychological violence was higher than physical violence or sexual violence, and it was strongly associated with physical and sexual violence. Furthermore, hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that unprotected sex was significantly associated with recent psychological violence after controlling for covariates. Findings suggest that recent psychological violence is more common than physical or sexual violence and it relates to sexual risk behaviors among Black women. Recent psychological violence may indicate psychosocial and sexual vulnerability for HIV and warrants particular attention among Black women.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110013
Author(s):  
Ethan C. Levine ◽  
Deeanna M. Button

Interpersonal violence is pervasive among youth in the United States. Sexual minority youth are disproportionately impacted. Utilizing data from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS, N = 12,868), this study describes the disparities in victimization among heterosexual and sexual minority youth. Sexual minority status was operationalized to include nonheterosexual identity (e.g., bisexual) and/or behavior (e.g., reporting same- and different-sex partners). Other predictors included sex (male/female), a sexuality*sex interaction term, age, and race/ethnicity. Outcomes included lifetime forced sexual intercourse and 12-month incidence of sexual violence, physical violence in relationships, sexual violence in relationships, in-school bullying, and cyberbullying. Approximately 15% ( n = 1,974) of participants were classified as sexual minority youth and 48% ( n = 6,213) self-identified as female. More than half (56%, n = 7,190) identified as racial and/or ethnic minorities. In bivariate logistic regression, sexual minority youth were significantly more likely to report all outcomes ( p < .001). In multivariable logistic regression, sexual minority and female youth were significantly more likely to report all outcomes ( p < .001). With the exception of physical violence in dating, sexuality*sex interaction terms were significant predictors for all outcomes ( p < .001), indicating that the risks associated with sexual minority status are heightened for male youth. This study concludes with a call for more attention toward violence among and against sexual minority youth. Although some prevention and response efforts address the unique needs and experiences of these youth, particularly antibullying initiatives, efforts to address sexual and dating violence often emphasize heterosexual contexts and communities.


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