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This study uses a welfare state lens to examine disparities in Covid-19 infections and mortality rates between countries in Eastern Europe compared to West European democracies. Expanding on Esping-Andersen’s typology of welfare regimes, the authors compare six country groups to conduct a multivariate statistical analysis that, when controlling for economic and health differences, shows the number of cases and deaths per 100,000 to be significantly higher for Eastern Europe. In comparing First, Second, and Third Wave data, the difference in Covid-19 infections and mortality rates can be explained through stricter lockdown measures implemented in the East at the start of the First Wave. Overall higher numbers in the East reflect comparatively looser state measures in response to the Second and Third Waves as well as the lack of trust in government and the weak implementation of public health measures.

Background: Zona pellucida is one of the main selective barriers for the spermatozoa before reaching the oocyte. Using native zona in the sperm selection prior to Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) has been proven effective but inconvenient approach in In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) laboratory. The application of autologous solubilised zonae pellucidae in the sperm selection prior to ICSI has not been studied yet. Objectives: To compare the assisted reproductive treatment (ART) outcomes (implantation, pregnancy, live birth, and miscarriage rates) after ICSI performed with spermatozoa selected on their ability to adhere to immobilised solubilised zonae pellucidae and conventionally selected spermatozoa. Materials and methods: In total, 500 couples fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 368 of them were included in the study. After random allocation, 192 couples had spermatozoa selected by sperm–zona adhesion for ICSI (study group) and 176 patients underwent standard ICSI (control group). In the study group, patients' own zonae were acid solubilised and immobilised on petri dishes. The partner's motile spermatozoa were placed in the dishes and the adhered spermatozoa were used for ICSI. For the control group, the conventional sperm selection by morphological criteria was applied prior ICSI. All women underwent frozen ET with euploid embryos. Chi square test was used to compare the data. Results: The sperm selection by zona adhesion resulted in significantly higher implantation rate (50.4% vs. 37.0%, p = 0.003), clinical pregnancy rate (43.8% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.018) and live birth rate (38.0% vs. 25.9%, p = 0.004) and significantly lower incidence of miscarriage (11.3% vs. 22.2%, p = 0.044) in comparison to the conventional method of the sperm selection. Discussion and conclusion: The application of solubilised zonae pellucidae in the sperm selection for ICSI benefits ART outcomes in couples with unexplained infertility. Moreover, sperm–zona selection significantly reduces the risk of miscarriages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language is a key consideration in the development of culturally-responsive interventions for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), and this includes not only the delivery of services, but also screening and evaluation materials. Given that Spanish is the most widely used language within the United States (U.S.) outside of English, it is important to ensure that measures of IPV are valid and reliable for use with Spanish-speaking survivors in the U.S. context. As such, the purpose of this study is to validate the Scale of Economic Abuse-12 for use with Spanish-speaking survivors. This study utilizes baseline data from 436 survivors of IPV who participated in a longitudinal, randomized controlled study evaluating a financial empowerment program. This included 201 participants that completed the survey in Spanish, and 235 participants that completed the survey in English. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test for measurement invariance across the Spanish and English language survey groups. After measurement invariance testing was completed, the reliability of the SEA-12 was examined for both groups. When examining the psychometric equivalence of the SEA-12 for both English and Spanish-speaking survivors of IPV, partial strict measurement invariance was achieved. The reliability of the scale and its subscales were also generally good. Results from this study demonstrated that the SEA-12 performed well with the Spanish-speaking survivors in this sample based in the U.S. As such, the Spanish translation of the SEA-12 can be recommended for use in research and practice with Spanish-speaking survivors within the U.S., Author(s): Laura Johnson [sup.1] , Gretchen L. Hoge [sup.2] , Kristina Nikolova [sup.3] , Judy L. Postmus [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.264727.2, 0000 0001 2248 3398, School of Social Work, [...]

The School of Social Work and Disability Studies Accessibility Planning Committee (APC) is a student-driven initiative that has been in existence for over 10 years. This practice brief looked at the committee through interviews with faculty and student members. The investigation aimed to determine whether the benefits of having a student-driven committee outweighed the challenges for the students, the faculty, the university, and the wider community. Outcomes indicate that student-driven committees, though faced with issues of recruitment, low membership, and reduced retention, also provide students with leadership and citizenship skills, promote dissemination of accessibility issues on campus, encourage personal growth, and serve as a tool for the consolidation of material learned in class to applications in the non-academic world. These outcomes indicate that continued support of student-driven committees on campuses has the potential of benefiting not only students, but also the university and the wider community.

The purpose of this study was to explore financial strategies that intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors undertake when engaging in safety planning and to examine the relationship between these strategies and various survivor characteristics. As part of the cross-sectional study, a total of 425 female survivors of IPV were surveyed. To examine the relationship between financial safety planning strategies and participants' demographic characteristics, abuse experiences, and financial knowledge, binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted. Factors associated with financial safety planning varied by strategy; ethnicity and nativity were often significantly associated. Implications for practice and areas for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the United Nations (U.N.) Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific, this study aims to identify the prevalence of men's use of intimate partner violence (IPV) with a focus on economic abuse and its association with food scarcity and other variables. The U.N. Study took place between 2010 and 2013 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka. Multi-stage cluster sampling was used to obtain a representative sample (n = 8,380) of households. The results found that over 1 in 5 men have perpetrated economic abuse at least once in their lifetime. Men reporting food scarcity, drinking problems, depressive symptoms, and gender inequality beliefs toward their partners were more likely to perpetrate economic abuse. Interventions aimed at reducing food insecurity, addressing men's drinking problems and depression, and changing attitudes toward gender inequality may be effective at decreasing economic abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration risk may be increased or reduced within a couple depending on adherence to traditional gender roles. The purpose of this study is to determine how gender role disparities (when a woman earns more or is more educated than a man) are associated with men's IPV perpetration and whether traditional gender belief adherence is a mediator for these associations. Survey data from the United Nations Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific were used to examine differences in IPV perpetration among a sample of 4,303 men, for relationships where the woman earns more or is more educated than the man as well as traditional gender beliefs as a mediator between gender role disparities and perpetration. The findings indicate that gender disparities predict IPV perpetration, and the effect is mediated through traditional gender beliefs. However, the direction of the effects differed for different types of disparities, with income disparities increasing the risk of IPV perpetration and educational disparities reducing perpetration. Efforts to increase women's education may lower their male partner's risk of perpetrating IPV, while economic interventions increasing women's earnings above their male partners may have the unintended consequence of increasing risk of IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic abuse is a poorly understood form of intimate partner violence but may have far-reaching implications for the financial health of the survivor. Additionally, very little is known about whether depressive symptoms, education, employment, or attitudes about relations between men and women mediate or moderate the relationship between economic abuse and their financial circumstances. The purpose of this study was to answer these two research questions: (a) Is there a relationship between the experience of economic abuse and food insecurity (as a measure of poverty)? (b) Is the relationship between economic abuse and food insecurity impacted by women's education, women's and men's employment, women's attitudes towards gender relations, or women's depressive symptoms? We used quantitative data from the "UN Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence," analyzing data on 3,105 women aged 18–49 years who were interviewed. Initial logistic regressions were conducted followed by introducing moderators and mediators to the model using path analyses to test the relationship between economic abuse and food insecurity in the household. Significant predictors of food insecurity included several types of abuse and partners' employment, women's own employment, and education. The only type of IPV not associated with food insecurity was physical abuse. Experiences of economic abuse were associated with a 1.69 times greater likelihood of reporting food insecurity which was higher than experiences of psychological or sexual abuse. Additionally, women's experiences of economic abuse over their lifetime were significantly associated with an increase in depressive symptoms which in turn was associated with greater likelihood of experiencing food insecurity. Such relationships warrant attention to economic abuse and depressive symptoms as part of the interventions used when working with survivors. Additional research could also help further our understanding of how these variables interact together and how best to address its impact on survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) has numerous negative short- and long-term impacts on children's development, mental health, physical health, and adult functioning. While community-based organizations have an array of interventions aimed to increase survivor safety and prevent the development of, or treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many families experiencing IPV never enter the doors of community-based organizations. To address this gap, there is an increasing number of partnerships between community-based organizations and first responders to increase support to families experiencing IPV. The Child Trauma Response Team (CTRT) is an innovative model that provides a coordinated, immediate, trauma-informed, and interdisciplinary response to families exposed to IPV. Given the lack of research on coordinated community interventions, the research questions for this study were as follows: (a) What are the family sociodemographic factors, crime factors, and program services most associated with family engagement in child PTSD screening following exposure to IPV? (b) What are the family sociodemographic factors and crime factors most associated with children screening positive for PTSD following exposure to IPV? The data for this study consist of 244 families with 352 children identified by the pilot CTRT. The results of this study suggest that a collaborative intervention designed to address caregiver and children's safety and well-being after a police-reported IPV incident is a promising model. Overall, more than 70% of children identified by the CTRT team completed a child PTSD screen, and 74.3% of children who completed the screens were screened positive for PTSD. The safety assessment service provided by the CTRT team was a predictor of the families' engagement in child PTSD screens. This is a critical finding and suggests the importance of developing program models that comprehensively address the needs of caregivers and children exposed to IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates in the field of intimate partner violence (IPV) have started to more actively engage survivors around their own perceptions of their lethality risk, as well as assist them in developing strategies for reducing and managing risk related to reassault and intimate partner homicide (IPH). Although research has examined the risk factors most associated with risk and utilized this information in the development and validation of risk assessment tools to be used with survivors, less is known about which indicators survivors most associate with lethality risk. This study aims to fill this gap by examining which risk indicators IPV survivors associate with fatality risk. Classification and regression tree analyses were used to differentiate between women who believed their partners were capable of killing them and those who did not. Data on a sample of 213 survivors of IPV used in this analysis were collected as part of a larger study in which a risk assessment instrument was piloted across four counties within New Jersey in 2016. More than three fourths of participants believed that their abuser was capable of killing them. Alhough the majority of survivors in the study felt as though their abusers were capable of killing them, there was variation in how survivors prioritized risk indicators. Factors associated with fatality risk included: (a) prior homicide threats; (b) whether the abusers had control over survivors' daily activities; (c) abusers' access to a gun; and (d) abusers' drug use. Findings suggest that IPV survivors need targeted intervention strategies around IPH, particularly those at higher perceived risk levels given the presence of risk indicators and their perceptions of lethality threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Family Violence Option (FVO) was designed to help survivors of domestic violence (DV) more easily secure income support in the United States (U.S.), without placing them at risk of further abuse. The objective of this study is to determine whether the decision‐making of advocates responsible for determining waiver recommendations under the FVO is influenced by the relationship status of DV survivors. Recursive partitioning was used to analyse data from a sample of 237 survivor risk assessments from four New Jersey counties to determine which women receive waiver recommendations and which do not. Advocates completed risk assessments for the women and were instructed to make recommendations on waivers based on their assessment. Workers' decision‐making was examined using classification and regression trees (CART) to determine what case factors made it more or less likely for survivors to be recommended waivers. The CART results were supplemented with logistic regression analyses to ensure validity. For two of three waivers, survivors who reported currently residing with their abuser or who had ended the relationship recently were less likely to receive waiver recommendations than those who had been out of the relationship for a longer period of time (OR = 0.09–0.21), even when accounting for the type and severity of DV and the impacts of the violence on survivors' mental health. The results indicate that DV advocates' decision‐making is complicated by factors independent of survivors' case characteristics. This can affect the safety and well‐being of women attempting to leave violent relationships by affecting their access to resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]