Ashley Withrow

Poor peer relationships have been identified as a primary risk factor for intimate partner violence (IPV). As part of the PROTECT-IPV Project, this systematic review was conducted to understand the protective factors against poor peer relationships in adolescence. A total of 1,365 articles published between 2004 and 2024 were identified from a search in 10 databases. Studies were included if they were empirical, discussed a promotive factor related to peer relationships among adolescents, and were published in English. The final synthesis included 38 studies. Peer relationships were assessed via friendship quality/closeness, bullying and/or violence perpetration or victimization, and involvement with deviant peers. Protective factors were observed across multiple domains: individual (e.g., self-esteem, resilience), peer (e.g., support, trust), family (e.g., parental warmth, communication), school (e.g., student-teacher relationships, school climate), and technology (e.g., messaging with friends). The role of some protective factors differed based on identity (race, gender), but the presence of minoritized identities was limited within the included studies. Clinical interventions centered on developing internal strengths, increasing trust and empathy within peer support, and building supportive school and community environments may be important opportunities to promote positive peer relationships and, in turn, promote healthier relationships in adulthood.

Purpose: Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) frequently face housing challenges both during and after experiencing abuse. Although previous studies have identified a link between IPV and housing instability, limitations in measurement and sampling have left significant gaps in the existing literature. While controlling for key covariates, this study examined the relation between physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as fear of intimate partners, and three forms of housing instability: difficulty paying rent or mortgage, frequent moves, and homelessness. Additionally, the study explores whether gender moderates these relationships, addressing the research gap of men survivors in previous studies. Methods: A series of logistic regression models were used to examine 163,284 adult patients’ electronic health records. Results: Emotional abuse significantly increased the odds of all three indicators of housing instability, and all four types of IPV elevated the risk of homelessness. Gender was found to moderate the relationship between IPV and difficulty with rent and mortgage payments. Conclusions: Individual and environmental factors emerged as significant predictors of housing instability, highlighting the importance of practitioners using an ecological perspective when screening for and addressing IPV. Practitioners should give increased attention to an individual disclosing emotional abuse, given the significance of emotional abuse in all three models, even without other forms of reported IPV. Future research should include longitudinal studies that focus on the temporal ordering of the complex association between IPV and housing instability.

Purpose: Many survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face challenges to safe and stable housing, often without support of formal housing programs due to limited funding and long wait lists of these programs. There is limited research on how survivors navigate housing instability and whether the dynamics of IPV interfere with access to informal support systems that may help in the absence of formal intervention. Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, this study aims to explore the ways that survivors (N = 10) access multidimensional aspects of their social networks to address housing instability through qualitative interviews combined with collaborative ecomapping. Results: Survivors described how material and emotional support was provided across 5 domains: family, friends, work/colleagues, church or religious groups, and social participation. Conclusion: Findings inform practice and policy changes focused on survivor-centered screening and intervention, expanded programs and increased advertising of program services in the community, and education and awareness events offered to the community, which may spread practical information on how family, friends, employers, and other levels of social support can assist with emotional or material aid.

Background and Purpose: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked with multiple adverse outcomes, including adolescent dating violence (ADV). ADV is a serious public health issue, with the U.S. rates ranging from 6.4% to 73% for victimization across all types and from 11% to 77% for perpetration. Given the high prevalence of ADV and the fact that it has been frequently linked with ACEs earlier in life, it is crucial to thoroughly understand this relation and apply this information to prevention and intervention efforts. However, to date, there are no known reviews synthesizing the link between ACEs and ADV, nor exploring which ACEs have been included across other studies. Methods: To address these gaps, this study included three comprehensive searches to identify the following: (1) the measurement tools used to measure ACEs; (2) the type of ACEs significantly linked with ADV; and (3) the risk and protective factors considered in this relation. Results: A total of 34 studies were included. There were 24 different assessment tools used to measure the ACEs of adolescents, with the number of ACEs included ranging from 1 to 93. All but one study linked at least one ACE to ADV. The types of ACEs linked with ADV consisted of victimization (e.g., child abuse and bullying), witnessing violence (i.e., home and school), and household dysfunction (e.g., caregiver substance abuse). Several risk and protective factors were considered. Conclusions/Implications: This study found the measurement of ACEs in the literature to be inconsistent, making it difficult to synthesize and compare the findings across studies. Despite the measurement inconsistencies, however, most studies linked ACEs with ADV, emphasizing the importance of considering this relation in prevention/intervention programming.

Law enforcement officers are frequently subjected to highly stressful and traumatic situations with increased negative physical and mental health outcomes. Mindfulness is proposed as a means of improving self-reported physical or mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, burnout, and sleep disturbances. This meta-analysis aims to pool the results from studies evaluating mindfulness for police officers, providing an overall effect size for each outcome of interest. Through systematic review, four studies were identified for meta-analysis. Fixed and random inverse variance effects were used. Results indicate that mindfulness-based intervention programs likely decrease depression and may result in reductions of anxiety and burnout.