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Trichotillomania is characterized by recurrent pulling out of one's hair, leading to significant hair loss and accompanied by clinically significant distress and/or functional impairment. The current study used data from a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy (AEBT) to psychoeducation plus supportive therapy (PST; active control) for trichotillomania in an adult sample. The objectives were to examine the moderating and mediating influence of trichotillomania-specific psychological flexibility in treatment for trichotillomania. Participants with lower baseline flexibility performed better in AEBT than PST in terms of greater symptom reduction and quality of life. Lower baseline flexibility also predicted higher likelihood of disorder recovery in AEBT relative to PST. In addition, relative to PST, symptom reduction in AEBT was mediated by psychological flexibility, controlling for anxiety and depression. These findings suggest that psychological flexibility is a relevant process of change in the treatment of trichotillomania. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

There is a growing body of literature investigating agreement of partners on instances of intimate partner aggression (IPA) well as attributions for why people engage in IPA. Although our understanding has increased, there remains a major gap in the literature: the utilization of only one member of a couple's reports of the aggression and attributions (i.e., partners' perceptions of why an event of IPA occurred). Using a dyadic study, romantic couples were asked to independently discuss the same psychological, physical, and sexual IPA incidents in their relationship. Seeking to bridge the two bodies of literature of both perpetrators' and victims' perceptions of the same IPA incidents, the current study found that while there was moderate agreement on whether or not aggression even happened in an instance of IPA, as well as agreement on the general type of aggression that occurred (e.g., psychological), there was little to no agreement otherwise (i.e., Kappa statistics indicating agreement ranging from nonexistent agreement to poor agreement on specific behaviors, attributions, and emotional effects). Partners typically disagreed on most behaviors that were enacted during instances of aggression, the attributions for the aggression (with the exception of alcohol), as well as the emotional outcomes related to IPA. In addition, disagreement on specific behaviors of aggression were related to various correlates (i.e., hypergender ideology, emotion dysregulation, controlling behavior, perceptions that one/one's partner will perpetrate in the future, past year physical IPA victimization/perpetration, past year psychological IPA victimization/perpetration, and any past year IPA victimization/perpetration), whereas disagreement on emotional effects was only related to past-year psychological IPA perpetration. These findings and area of research are imperative to understanding the complexities of conflict in the realm of romantic relationships, as well as being vital for the development and success of IPA prevention and treatment programs.

The current study used a dyadic daily diary design to examine the transmission of anger over daily interactions within romantic relationships. The results suggested that, when people feel angry in their relationships, they are more likely to engage in destructive behaviors toward their partners. In turn, the enactment of destructive behaviors tends to be perceived by their partners, which elicits partners’ anger. Hence, these findings suggest that anger can promote a negative interpersonal process in which anger spreads across partners and reinforces itself. Effects were moderated by agreeableness, but not by relationship commitment.

The current study tested the predictions that (a) people project their own attraction to alternative romantic or sexual partners onto their romantic partners and (b) this projection shapes anger and negative behavior toward romantic partners. These predictions were supported in a dyadic daily experiences study of 96 heterosexual romantic couples. Participants’ self-reported attraction to alternative partners predicted perceptions of the partner’s interest independently of, and more strongly than, the partner’s own self-reported attraction, suggesting that participants projected their own extradyadic attraction onto their partners. Furthermore, this projection predicted perceivers’ own anger and negative behaviors directed at their partners more strongly than did the partner’s self-reported attraction. Results suggest that participants were angry and antagonistic when they thought their partners were interested in alternative partners, but that this suspicion was a projection of their own attraction to alternatives more than it was an accurate reflection of their partner’s attraction. Results suggest that projection of extradyadic attraction has an important influence on relationship quality and may exacerbate the negative relationship consequences of attraction to alternative partners.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine how school (e.g., school poverty rate) and community (e.g., county population density) characteristics relate to DV victimization and DV victim outcomes among high school youth. METHOD: The data used in this paper come from the 2013 New Hampshire Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Participants included in this study were 24,976 high school students from 71 public schools who completed the YRBS, ranged in age from 13 and to 18+ years old, and reported dating during the past year. RESULTS: Physical DV victimization was related to higher school-level poverty rates and youth feeling low levels of community mattering. Sexual DV victimization was related to youth feeling low levels of community mattering and participating in community groups. Population density was unrelated to both physical and sexual DV victimization. Among DV victims, higher perceptions of community mattering was related to lower levels of depression and poor academics. DV victims not involved in community group participation had poorer academics than DV victims involved in community groups. Binge drinking was unrelated to school and community characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Initiatives that focus on reducing poverty and improving youths' perceptions of community mattering could be important components of more comprehensive efforts to reduce DV incidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) Language: en

Summary of the Research Literature on IPV AmongLGB PersonsIncidence and Prevalence Rates Sixty-two studies have reported on the incidence and/or preva-lence rates of IPV among LGB individuals. Rates of IPV rangefrom 1% (e.g., Turell [2000] measuring forced sex perpetration incurrent relationships among LGBT individuals) to more than 97%(i.e.,Hequembourg,Parks,V Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996) find-ing that 33.3% of men in same-sex relationships reporting victim-ization (Craft & Serovich, 2005), and 9.5% of gay and bisexualmen reporting sexual victimization using author-created questions(Feldman, Ream, Diaz, & El-Bassel, 2008). Similar to the higherrates reported by Craft and Serovich (2005), these researchers alsofound that 27.5% of men in same-sex relationships reported sexualIPV perpetration (Craft & Serovich, 2005). Finally, research in-vestigating physical IPV has found that 41.0% of gay and bisexualmen report being the victim and 35.0% report being the perpetratorof at least one act of physical IPV in their lifetime (Bartholomew,Regan, White, & Oram, 2008), and Craft and Serovich (2005)found similar rates, with 45.1% of men in same-sex relationshipsreporting physical IPV victimization and 39.2% reporting perpe-tration. Although discrepancies appear to be a result of the differ-entformsofIPVbeingmeasuredandsomeresearchers’tendenciesto aggregate multiple forms of IPV when reporting rates, themeasures used can also influence rates. For instance, includingmilder forms of violence in IPV perpetration and victimizationscales can lead to higher rates of reported violence. Specifically,Miller, Greene, Causby, White, and Lockhart (2001) found that46.1% of the lesbians in their study reported some form of mod-erate physical IPV, whereas 14.1% reported severe physical IPV.As shown above, the gaping discrepancy in rates of IPV isattributable to variability in how IPV is defined (IPV victimizationand/or perpetration; physical, sexual, psychological, and/or stalk-ingIPV;lifetime,currentrelationship,lastyear,orsomeothertimeframe) and measured (standardized measurement, most commonlythe Conflict Tactics Scale Revised [Straus et al., 1996], or itemscreated for the individual study by researchers) as well as thesample used (e.g., demographic make-up, national vs. conveniencesample, clinical vs. community sample). Not surprising, the high-est rates of IPV are documented when the measures and definitionsused by researchers are more inclusive and include a longer timeframe. The highest rates of IPV victimization are also documentedin samples evidencing higher levels of IPV risk factors (e.g.,clinical and criminal justice system samples).IPV estimates ranging from 1% to more than 97% tell usextremely little about the scope of the problem. Consistent withother reviews (e.g., Finkelhor, 2011), herein we draw upon themost recent, nationally representative epidemiological data to pro-vide what we consider to be the most reliable and valid estimatesof IPV among LGB individuals, and how these estimates vary asa function of sexual orientation and gender. The CDC releasedsome of the most recent data from the National Intimate Partnerand Sexual Violence Survey, which documented that lifetimeprevalence rates of IPV (inclusive of physical, sexual, stalkingvictimization, but not psychological victimization) occurred atsimilar to higher rates among self-identified LGB adults (bisexualwomen: 61.1%; lesbian women: 43.8%; bisexual men: 37.3%; gaymen: 26.0%) than heterosexual adults (women: 35.0%; men:29.0%)(Walters,Chen,B lesbian women: 29.4%; gaymen: 16.4%) than heterosexual adults (women: 23.6%; men:13.9%). The findings reported by Walters et al. (2013) are some-what consistent with Messinger’s (2011) analysis of the NationalViolence Against Women Survey, in which Messinger docu-mented that means for all forms of IPV victimization (inclusive ofphysical, psychological, and sexual) were greater for LGB indi-viduals than heterosexual individuals. Messinger also documentedthat sexual minority women were most likely to be victims ofsexual IPV, followed by heterosexual women, sexual minoritymen, and heterosexual men. Further, bisexual individuals weremore likely to be victimized than all other groups, and bisexualwomen were more likely to be victimized than bisexual men for allforms of IPV, except psychological IPV.Data from the National Longitudinal Study of AdolescentHealth provide information on IPV among adolescents and youngadults as a function of gender and sexual orientation (Halpern,Young, Waller, Martin, & Kupper, 2004; Renner & Whitney,2010). Using Wave II, Halpern et al. (2004) found that 24% ofadolescents who were in same-sex relationships during the past 18months reported physical and/or psychological IPV victimization.Girls in same-sex relationships reported higher rates of physical

The goal of this study was to examine young adult women’s motives for engaging in psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants were 484 college women in relationships who had engaged in at least 1 form of psychological, physical, or sexual IPV perpetration. Women who reported engaging in psychological and physical IPV typically reported motives of anger, retaliation for being hit first or for emotional hurt, and an inability to express themselves verbally, whereas women who reported sexual IPV perpetration reported motives of sexual arousal, to prove love, and a loss of control. These results suggest that women engage in psychological and physical perpetration for many of the same reasons and that women’s motives for sexual perpetration are somewhat different. These findings have implications for the ways in which interventions are tailored, suggesting that there are likely important factors that need to be addressed for all types of IPV (e.g., emotion dysregulation), and some types of IPV (e.g., sexual) might require tailored prevention and intervention efforts (e.g., education about appropriate ways of expressing sexual arousal and love). These findings also underscore the importance of investigating multiple forms of perpetration when studying motives for IPV and the relevance of motives in the development of IPV prevention programming with young women.

Because romantic partners frequently disagree on the violence in their relationship, relying on nondyadic data for perpetration and victimization rates, especially to inform the gender symmetry controversy, is problematic. In order to have a more nuanced understanding of gender symmetry, we urge researchers to be cautious when drawing symmetry conclusions from non-dyadic samples. Furthermore, using both partners, we suggest that researchers employ more qualitative approaches to ascertain IPV agreement, note times in which either partner reports IPV as an indicator of the presence of violence, and investigate the extent to which conclusions regarding gender symmetry stem from participant selection bias.

Domestic violence, which includes physical, sexual, and psychological violence toward a current or former partner, is a pervasive global public health issue that leads to a number of deleterious consequences to victims and costs to society. Thus, the primary prevention of domestic violence is critical, and prevention is most effective when it begins early in life (i.e., in childhood) and extends throughout the life course. Theories regarding the causes of domestic violence and associated risk (e.g., substance use) and protective (e.g., social and community supports) factors for perpetration are critical to inform prevention efforts. However, prevention initiatives often lack strong theoretical and empirical grounding. Nevertheless, there are several theoretically driven and empirically based domestic violence primary prevention programs with adolescents and young adults that have demonstrated promising findings (e.g., long-term reductions in domestic violence, increases in bystander action in situations of domestic violence). There is also a growing understanding of the factors that make domestic violence prevention efforts most effective, including programs that are developmentally and culturally appropriate to the target audience and provide sufficient dosage and intensity. Despite these successes, a number of issues (e.g., sustainability of evidence-based prevention and policy efforts across the life span; increased collaboration among researchers, practitioners, educations, and policymakers) must be addressed in order to substantially decrease, if not eradicate, domestic violence from our society.

A model of extradyadic temptation and mate guarding was tested in the present dyadic daily report study. Results indicated that participants (perceivers) perceived their partner’s (targets) daily extradyadic temptation and that these perceptions predicted perceivers’ daily mate-guarding behaviors. Perceivers’ chronic jealousy moderated these relationships. These results suggest that perceivers, especially chronically jealous perceivers, are sensitive to their partners’ temptation for extradyadic relations and respond to this temptation with relationship-protective behaviors. Furthermore, perceivers’ mate-guarding behaviors predicted increases in targets’ subsequent daily commitment, suggesting that perceivers’ mate guarding works to deter targets from future infidelity by increasing targets’ commitment to the relationship. These findings suggest an interpersonal process in which people detect and then regulate their partners’ extradyadic temptation.

The current research examined effects of accurate and biased perceptions of romantic partners’ responsive support provision on perceivers’ well-being. Perceivers discussed a personal problem with their romantic partners (“targets”). Perceivers’ perceptions of targets’ responsive support following the discussion were related to external indicators of targets’ behavior, but these perceptions also were predicted by perceivers’ sentiments toward targets, suggesting that processes underlying perceivers’ perceptions were a blend of both accuracy and bias. In addition, both accurately perceived and biased perceptions of targets’ responsiveness predicted perceivers’ personal well-being (i.e., affect, coping, self-efficacy) and interpersonal well-being (i.e., more positive sentiments toward targets) immediately after the support interaction, 2 weeks later, and 6 months later. Results suggest that accurate and biased cognition during interpersonal interactions can have important consequences for perceivers’ personal and interpersonal well-being through effects on perceived partner responsiveness.

Perceived partner responsiveness, or trust in partners' care, positive regard, and commitment, is widely believed to be an important determinant of relationship quality. This trust may be based, in part, on memory of partners' prior behaviors, which may be biased. The current research provided support for the prediction that memories of partners' prior responsiveness are biased by perceivers' desires to bond with partners. A dyadic daily report study (Study 1) and a dyadic longitudinal study with a behavioral observation component (Study 2) suggested that perceivers' valuing of partners biased their memories of partners' behavior independently of perceivers' initial encoding, partners' sentiments, and partners' behavior. This bias was not explained by other potential sources of bias, including relationship satisfaction, attachment dimensions, trait self-esteem, and consistency effects. Results also suggested that responsiveness memories reduce emotional reactivity in response to current perceptions of partners' lack of responsiveness (Study 1) and contribute to global feelings of trust (Study 2). These results indicate that perceivers' memories of partners' prior responsiveness are shaped by their own desires to bond with partners and that biased responsiveness memories contribute to current trust and therefore have interpersonal significance.

Two studies provided evidence that people hide their negative evaluations of their romantic partner's physical attractiveness. This pattern was found using self-reports of concealment (Study 1) and a behavioral observation measure (Study 2). Participants who engaged in this deception also exhibited elevated speech disfluencies, which is a deception cue. Moderators of concealment were examined. Concealment was especially pronounced for participants high in care for the partner's welfare (Studies 1 and 2), low in commitment (Studies 1 and 2), and high in attractiveness ideals (Study 2). Results suggest that people use deception to regulate their romantic partner's feelings, but that long-term orientation or desire to maintain closeness may curtail use of this strategy.

Research shows that there are a variety of reasons why people self-report engaging in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, but few studies report victims’ attributions for their partners’ IPV perpetration. Because there are two acting partners in relationships, as well as the IPV incidents that occur in the relationships, to fully understand the dynamics of IPV, both partners’ perceptions of why the incidents occur must be understood. The authors of this article systematically reviewed the available empirical evidence regarding male and female perpetrators’ endorsed attributions for their IPV perpetration, as well victims’ attributions for their partners’ IPV perpetration. Several literature databases were explored, resulting in 50 articles that met the criteria for inclusion in this review. IPV perpetrators’ commonly endorsed attributions for physical and psychological IPV consisted of control, anger, retaliation, self-defense, to get attention, and an inability to express oneself verbally. Research has not examined endorsed attributions for coercive control. The few studies examining attributions for sexual IPV found that it was attributed to dominance or hedonism. Themes regarding victims’ attributions were largely similar to those of the perpetrators, however, there were some differences. Victims’ attributions for physical IPV perpetration consisted of anger, control, jealousy, and the influence of drugs/alcohol, which are similar to perpetrators’ self-reported attributions for engaging in IPV perpetration. Victims’ attributions for their partners’ psychological IPV perpetration consisted of the perpetrator’s personality, relationship dissolution, alcohol, and their partners’ jealousy. Victims’ attributions for their partners’ sexual IPV perpetration, however, differed from perpetrators’ attributions, consisting of the victim believing that the perpetrator thought they wanted it, being under the influence of alcohol/drugs, and doing it out of love. Methodological inconsistencies, directions for future research, and treatment implications are also discussed.

Using a mixed methodology, the present study compared men’s and women’s perceived benefits and emotional reactions with participating in research that inquired about child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration. Participants consisted of 703 college students (357 women, 346 men), ages 18 to 25 who reported on their childhood maltreatment, adolescent and adult IPV victimization and perpetration, and their reactions (perceived benefits and emotional effects) to participating. Participants’ reactions to participating were assessed using quantitative scales, as well as open-ended written responses that were content coded by researchers. Women reported more personal benefits from research, whereas men and women reported similar levels of emotional reactions to research participation. Furthermore, greater frequencies of child maltreatment and IPV victimization were related to higher levels of emotional reactions. Common self-identified reasons for emotional reactions (e.g., not liking to think about abuse in general, personal victimization experiences) and benefits (e.g., reflection and awareness about oneself, learning about IPV) were also presented and analyzed. These data underscore the importance of future research that examines the behavioral impact of research participation utilizing longitudinal and in-depth qualitative methodologies. Findings also highlight the potential psychoeducational value of research on understanding the reasons underlying participants’ benefits and emotional effects.

Research on children's fears has primarily focused on White children, and has been cross-sectional in nature. Research that examines fears across time or focuses on African American children's fears is sparse. We examined the stability of fears among 34 African American and 39 White elementary school children using the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R) across a 12-month period. Across time, African American children's FSSC-R total fear scores were more stable than those of their White counterparts. Between-group comparisons indicated similarities in the rank ordering of fears. Regardless of race, sex, or grade, children's fears centered around harm befalling self or others.

This pilot study examines the presence ofpanic disorder among an urban African American essential hypertensive sample enrolled at a hospital-affiliatedfamily practice center Symptomatology associated with panic disorder, including the presence of isolated sleep paralysis, is also explored. Panic disorder was more likely to be presentforhypertensives thanfornormotensives. Seven of thepatients with panic disorder and hypertension experienced isolated sleep paralysis.

Fears are a part of normal childhood development. However, little is known about the fears experienced by African American children. In this project, 109 African American and 124 white children aged of 6–12 (grades 1–6) were administered the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R). A principal components analysis was performed, which yielded a five-factor solution for the white children and a three-factor solution for the African American children. After varimax rotations, some similarities were noted between the three-factor solution for African Americans and the five-factor solution for whites. The most notable difference was the absence of a school-fears factor for African American children. The 11 most common fears for both groups were obtained. Eight of the 11 fears were the same. Contrary to previous reports, it would appear that children's fears transcend race.

The use of a daily diary to assess the range and frequency of anxious events in young children was examined. The results indicated that although further modifications in procedure may be necessary to address the child's maturational age, self-monitoring is a feasible assessment strategy for use with anxious children. Furthermore, the findings that anxious children report significantly more emotional distress and more negative behaviors such as crying, somatic complaints or behavioral avoidance provide some initial validity for the use of this assessment format. The results are discussed in terms of the utility and validity of a diary format and its ability to enhance our clinical understanding of childhood anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders in the general population of the United States. Recent findings indicate that the prevalence of certain anxiety disorders may be higher in African Americans. In addition, anxiety disorders in African Americans may be manifested differently. Despite the high prevalence and the suggestion of different patterns of manifestation, a paucity of research exists on anxiety disorders in this population. This may be due in part to the pattern of help-seeking behavior among African Americans, a negative perception of research by members of this community, the small number of African American researchers, and perhaps to some extent a general disinterest on the part of researchers. The available research on anxiety disorders in African Americans is critically reviewed, the need for research in the area is highlighted, and ways to facilitate such research are discussed.

While dramatic instances of male aggression directed toward women, such as rape and wife battering, have been frequently studied, a more subtle form of male aggression—female harassment—has been investigated less often. In the present study, 50 women who had terminated relationships with males and then were harassed were interviewed. In general, the harassment lasted for about a year, and episodes which occurred on a daily basis consisted of calls, letters, visits to home or work, being followed, verbal threats, and physical aggression. For the most part, these aggressive actions were perceived as both threatening and disturbing. Findings indicated that assertive female strategies were not more effective in reducing harassment than more sex-role stereotyped passive and nonassertive responses to male aggression. In the second phase of this study a sample of college undergraduates was interviewed on the topic of harassment. Fifty-six percent of the women indicated that they had been harassed by men.

Skin color, facial features, and hair play a significant albeit quiet role in the lives of Black Americans. For many Black Americans, central feelings related to perceived self-worth, intelligence, success, and attractiveness are determined by such factors as the lightness of their skin, the broadness of their nose, the thickness of their lips, and the kinkiness of their hair. Although these characteristics affect both men and women, psychologically these effects appear to be stronger for females who, regardless of race, have had to concern themselves more with appearance. This article provides a historical account of the role skin color, facial features, and hair have played in Black America. Special attention is given to the effect these issues have had on Black females. Pertinent research is reviewed and the implications for therapy with Black women is discussed.

The effects of altering light pattern sequences on driver compliance at a busy, urban intersection were explored. The baseline light timing sequences resulted in only 46.8% of drivers stopping at the yellow or red lights. Using an A-B-C design, we altered light pattern sequences that increased the probability of drivers stopping at the signals to 88.8% and 98.8%. These findings indicate that traffic light contingencies have potent effects in influencing driver behaviors at busy intersections. Following completion of the study, the traffic engineer approved the permanence of the light timing pattern that increased traffic rule compliance. Accident data collected before and after the light timing changes indicated a reduction in automobile accidents.