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Although individuals who engage in intimate partner violence (IPV) report high rates of trauma exposure, it is unclear whether they perceive a link between trauma exposures and relationship problems, which traumas are seen as most influential, and whether such perceptions accurately reflect their relationship difficulties. Ninety-four men presenting for IPV intervention services reported their exposure to 22 adverse and potentially traumatic events (APTEs), and were asked whether these events had influenced the way that they think, act, or feel in relationships. APTEs were categorized based on whether or not they appeared to represent PTSD Criterion A traumatic events. Additionally, participants completed self-report measures of IPV use, partner injuries, emotional abuse, relationship problems, emotion regulation difficulties, and PTSD symptoms. Nearly half (43.6%) of the sample reported that one or more APTEs had influenced the way they function in relationships. Of the 92 reports of non-Criterion A APTEs, 42.4% were endorsed as relationship-influencing, whereas only 19.7% of the 310 occurrences of Criterion A APTEs were endorsed as relationship-influencing. The number of relationship-influencing APTEs reported was positively correlated with emotional abuse, relationship problems, emotion regulation difficulties, and PTSD symptoms. In contrast, the number of non-relationship-influencing APTEs reported was only correlated with emotional abuse. Findings from this exploratory study (1) demonstrate the ability of clients receiving IPV services to discern which APTEs have relevance to their relationships; (2) suggest the benefits of considering non-Criterion A APTEs; and (3) indicate the need for trauma- informed IPV intervention services., Author(s): Adam D. LaMotte [sup.1] , Tricia Gower [sup.2] , Haley Miles-McLean [sup.1] , Julian Farzan-Kashani [sup.1] , Christopher M. Murphy [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0001 2177 1144, grid.266673.0, [...]

Many individuals have experienced a multitude of chronic stressors and diminished psychological functioning during COVID-19. The current study examined whether biases towards positive social media or positive autobiographical memories was related to increases in psychological functioning during COVID-19. Participants were 1071 adults (Mage = 46.31; 58% female; 78% White) recruited from MTurk. Participants reported on their social media consumption and autobiographical recall, positive and negative affect, and dysphoria symptoms. Results indicated that, at the first assessment collected in the spring and summer of 2020, positively biased social media consumption was cross-sectionally related to higher levels of positive affect, and positively biased autobiographical recall was cross-sectionally related to lower levels of negative affect and dysphoria symptoms. Sensitivity analyses examined cross-sectional relations from a second assessment collected in fall 2020, and prospective cross-lagged analyses. The findings point to potential psychological benefits of positive biases during chronic stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether interparental physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) have additive effects on child threat appraisals and internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and whether relations between psychological IPV and child difficulties differ when physical IPV has occurred, as compared to when it has not occurred. Participants were 531 children (51% male) aged 7–10 years and their mothers. Children reported on IPV, and on their threat appraisals; children and mothers both reported on child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Families participated in three assessments spaced 6 months apart. Results indicated that physical and psychological IPV had additive effects on child threat appraisals and child reports of disruptive behavior problems, but not on other measures of child internalizing or externalizing symptoms. Results of moderator analyses indicated that relations between psychological IPV and mothers' reports of child internalizing symptoms, and between psychological IPV and child reports of disruptive behavior problems were stronger when physical IPV had occurred. Notably, psychological IPV was also associated with child threat appraisals, anxiety symptoms, and disruptive behavior problems even in the absence of physical IPV. The findings suggest that in child and family research and service settings, when aspects of the interparental relationship are relevant, the risks posed by psychological IPV should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-out, a mainstay of non-punitive discipline for over 60 years, has been criticized for isolating and distancing children from others. An alternative technique, one promoted by advocates of positive parenting practices, is labeled "time-in". This procedure is intended to help the child connect to the parent, communicate their feelings, and learn how to self-regulate. Although the technique has been advocated in the positive parenting literature since at least the 1990s, there are few empirical studies evaluating it. This pilot mixed-models study was designed as an initial test to determine whether mothers, following a brief training, would use the procedure over a two-week period, and how they would view it. Based on the daily reports as well as post-intervention interview of a small sample of mothers, the technique was evaluated as easy to use and effective. This study provides initial information about mothers' use of the technique and sets the stage for a comprehensive set of studies to rigorously test and evaluate the technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual abuse (CSA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are both global problems with negative health implications. This study examines whether mothers' lifetime experiences of IPV relate to their own psychological distress and to mother-adolescent conflict in families in which an adolescent has disclosed sexual abuse. The recency of IPV was examined as a potential moderator of these relations. Participants were 356 adolescents and their nonoffending mothers. Families were seeking services from a children's advocacy center in the southern United States. Mothers reported their IPV victimization (both lifetime and past month) and symptoms of psychological distress; mothers and adolescents both reported on mother-adolescent conflict. In bivariate analyses, mothers' lifetime experiences of IPV were positively related to mothers' psychological distress, and to mother and adolescent reports of mother-adolescent conflict. These same relations emerged in regression analyses that controlled for characteristics of the sexual abuse (time between the disclosure of CSA and the assessment, severity, relationship to the alleged perpetrator, duration), and adolescent age and sex. Recency of IPV did not moderate these relations. In exploratory analyses, mothers' lifetime experiences of IPV were more strongly associated with mother-son conflict than with mother-daughter conflict. In addition, mothers' psychological distress partially mediated the relation between their lifetime experiences of IPV and their reports of mother-adolescent conflict. The findings point to the potential utility of conducting IPV screenings with caregivers in families seeking services for an adolescent after a sexual abuse disclosure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oestradiol is known to play an important role in the developing human brain, although little is known about the entire network of potential regions that might be affected and how these effects may vary from childhood to early adulthood, which in turn can explain sexually differentiated behaviours. In the present study, we examined the relationships between oestradiol, cortico‐amygdalar structural covariance, and cognitive or behavioural measures typically showing sex differences (verbal/spatial skills, anxious‐depressed symptomatology) in 152 children and adolescents (aged 6‐22 years). Cortico‐amygdalar structural covariance shifted from positive to negative across the age range. Oestradiol was found to diminish the impact of age on cortico‐amygdalar covariance for the pre‐supplementary motor area/frontal eye field and retrosplenial cortex (across the age range), as well as for the posterior cingulate cortex (in older children). Moreover, the influence of oestradiol on age‐related cortico‐amygdalar networks was associated with higher word identification and spatial working memory (across the age range), as well as higher reading comprehension (in older children), although it did not impact anxious‐depressed symptoms. There were no significant sex effects on any of the above relationships. These findings confirm the importance of developmental timing on oestradiol‐related effects and hint at the non‐sexually dimorphic role of oestradiol‐related cortico‐amygdalar structural networks in aspects of cognition distinct from emotional processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]