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Prevalence and Predictors of Sexual Aggression Victimization and Perpetration in Chile and Turkey
(2017)
Background: Although sexual aggression is recognized as a serious issue worldwide, the current knowledge base is primarily built on evidence from Western countries, particularly the U.S. For the present doctoral research, Chile and Turkey were selected based on theoretical considerations to examine the prevalence as well as predictors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration. The first aim of this research project was to systematically review the available evidence provided by past studies on this topic within each country. The second aim was to empirically study the prevalence of experiencing and engaging in sexual aggression since the age of consent among college students in Chile and Turkey. The third aim was to conduct cross-cultural analyses examining pathways to victimization and perpetration based on a two-wave longitudinal design.
Methods: This research adopted a gender-inclusive approach by considering men and women in both victim and perpetrator roles. For the systematic reviews, multiple-stage literature searches were performed, and based on a predefined set of eligibility criteria, 28 studies in Chile and 56 studies in Turkey were identified for inclusion. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted to examine the prevalence and predictors of sexual aggression among male and female college students in Chile and Turkey. Self-reports of victimization and perpetration were assessed with a Chilean Spanish or Turkish version of the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale. Two path models were conceptualized in which participants’ risky sexual scripts for consensual sex, risky sexual behavior, sexual self-esteem, sexual assertiveness, and religiosity were assessed at T1 and used as predictors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration at T2 in the following 12 months, mediated through past victimization or perpetration, respectively. The models differed in that sexual assertiveness was expected to serve different functions for victimization (refusal assertiveness negatively linked to victimization) and perpetration (initiation assertiveness positively linked to perpetration).
Results: Both systematic reviews revealed that victimization was addressed by all included studies, but data on perpetration was severely limited. A great heterogeneity not only in victimization rates but also in predictors was found, which may be attributed to a lack of conceptual and methodological consistency across studies. The empirical analysis of the prevalence of sexual aggression in Chile revealed a victimization rate of 51.9% for women and 48.0% for men, and a perpetration rate of 26.8% for men and 16.5% for women. In the Turkish original data, victimization was reported by 77.6% of women and 65.5% of men, whereas, again, lower rates were found for perpetration, with 28.9% of men and 14.2% of women reporting at least one incident. The cross-cultural analyses showed, as expected, that risky sexual scripts informed risky sexual behavior, and thereby indirectly increased the likelihood of victimization and perpetration at T2 in both samples. More risky sexual scripts were also linked to lower levels of refusal assertiveness in both samples, indirectly increasing the vulnerability to victimization at T2. High sexual self-esteem decreased the probability of victimization at T2 through higher refusal assertiveness as well as through less risky sexual behavior also in both samples, whereas it increased the odds of perpetration at T2 via higher initiation assertiveness in the Turkish sample only. Furthermore, high religiosity decreased the odds of perpetration and victimization at T2 through less risky sexual scripts and less risky sexual behavior in both samples. It reduced the vulnerability to victimization through less risky sexual scripts and higher refusal assertiveness in the Chilean sample only. In the Turkish sample only, it increased the odds of perpetration and victimization through lower sexual self-esteem.
Conclusions: The findings showed that sexual aggression is a widespread problem in both Chile and Turkey, contributing cross-cultural evidence to the international knowledge base and indicating the clear need for implementing policy measures and prevention strategies in each country. Based on the results of the prospective analyses, concrete implications for intervention efforts are discussed.
Recognizing, understanding, and responding to quantities are considerable skills for human beings. We can easily communicate quantities, and we are extremely efficient in adapting our behavior to numerical related tasks. One usual task is to compare quantities. We also use symbols like digits in numerical-related tasks. To solve tasks including digits, we must to rely on our previously learned internal number representations.
This thesis elaborates on the process of number comparison with the use of noisy mental representations of numbers, the interaction of number and size representations and how we use mental number representations strategically. For this, three studies were carried out.
In the first study, participants had to decide which of two presented digits was numerically larger. They had to respond with a saccade in the direction of the anticipated answer. Using only a small set of meaningfully interpretable parameters, a variant of random walk models is described that accounts for response time, error rate, and variance of response time for the full matrix of 72 digit pairs. In addition, the used random walk model predicts a numerical distance effect even for error response times and this effect clearly occurs in the observed data. In relation to corresponding correct answers error responses were systematically faster. However, different from standard assumptions often made in random walk models, this account required that the distributions of step sizes of the induced random walks be asymmetric to account for this asymmetry between correct and incorrect responses.
Furthermore, the presented model provides a well-defined framework to investigate the nature and scale (e.g., linear vs. logarithmic) of the mapping of numerical magnitude onto its internal representation. In comparison of the fits of proposed models with linear and logarithmic mapping, the logarithmic mapping is suggested to be prioritized.
Finally, we discuss how our findings can help interpret complex findings (e.g., conflicting speed vs. accuracy trends) in applied studies that use number comparison as a well-established diagnostic tool. Furthermore, a novel oculomotoric effect is reported, namely the saccadic overschoot effect. The participants responded by saccadic eye movements and the amplitude of these saccadic responses decreases with numerical distance.
For the second study, an experimental design was developed that allows us to apply the signal detection theory to a task where participants had to decide whether a presented digit was physically smaller or larger. A remaining question is, whether the benefit in (numerical magnitude – physical size) congruent conditions is related to a better perception than in incongruent conditions. Alternatively, the number-size congruency effect is mediated by response biases due to numbers magnitude. The signal detection theory is a perfect tool to distinguish between these two alternatives. It describes two parameters, namely sensitivity and response bias. Changes in the sensitivity are related to the actual task performance due to real differences in perception processes whereas changes in the response bias simply reflect strategic implications as a stronger preparation (activation) of an anticipated answer. Our results clearly demonstrate that the number-size congruency effect cannot be reduced to mere response bias effects, and that genuine sensitivity gains for congruent number-size pairings contribute to the number-size congruency effect.
Third, participants had to perform a SNARC task – deciding whether a presented digit was odd or even. Local transition probability of irrelevant attributes (magnitude) was varied while local transition probability of relevant attributes (parity) and global probability occurrence of each stimulus were kept constantly. Participants were quite sensitive in recognizing the underlying local transition probability of irrelevant attributes. A gain in performance was observed for actual repetitions of the irrelevant attribute in relation to changes of the irrelevant attribute in high repetition conditions compared to low repetition conditions. One interpretation of these findings is that information about the irrelevant attribute (magnitude) in the previous trial is used as an informative precue, so that participants can prepare early processing stages in the current trial, with the corresponding benefits and costs typical of standard cueing studies.
Finally, the results reported in this thesis are discussed in relation to recent studies in numerical cognition.
BACKGROUND: Aggressive behavior at an early age is linked to a broad range of psychosocial problems in later life. That is why risk factors of the occurrence and the development of aggression have been examined for a long time in psychological science. The present doctoral dissertation aims to expand this research by investigating risk factors in three intrapersonal domains using the prominent social-information processing approach by Crick and Dodge (1994) as a framework model. Anger regulation was examined as an affective, theory of mind as a cognitive, and physical attractiveness as an appearance-related developmental factor of aggression in middle childhood. An additional goal of this work was to develop and validate a behavioral observation assessment of anger regulation as past research lacked in ecologically valid measures of anger regulation that are applicable for longitudinal studies.
METHODS: Three empirical studies address the aforementioned intrapersonal risk factors. In each study, data from the PIER-project were used, a three-wave-longitudinal study covering three years with a total sample size of 1,657 children in the age between 6 and 11 years (at the first measurement point). The central constructs were assessed via teacher-reports (aggression), behavioral observation (anger regulation), computer tests (theory of mind), and independent ratings (physical attractiveness). The predictive value of each proposed risk factor for the development of aggressive behavior was examined via structural equation modeling.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The newly developed behavioral observation measure was found to be a reliable and valid tool to assess anger regulation in middle childhood, but limited in capturing a full range of relevant regulation strategies. That might be the reason, why maladaptive anger regulation was not found to function as a risk factor of subsequent aggressive behavior. However, children’s deficits in theory of mind and a low level in physical attractiveness significantly predicted later aggression. Problematic peer relationships were identified as underlying the link between low attractiveness and aggression. Thus, fostering children’s skills in theory of mind and their ability to call existing beliefs about the nature of more versus less attractive individuals into question may be important starting points for the prevention of aggressive behavior in middle childhood.
The evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper was investigated on the empirical basis of a longitudinal sample of 26 adolescent girls and boys who were born in Berlin during German reunification, as well as their mothers. Consistent with the theory, pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was predicted by the quality of parental relations in childhood, and pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was a significant predictor of the age at first intercourse. The results suggest that there are different developmental pathways for girls and boys with respect to the predictions of the evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky et al. The findings also support the hypothesis that early onset of reproduction and frequent reproduction may be two different aspects of a quantitative reproductive strategy.
The role of alcohol and victim sexual interest in Spanish students' perceptions of sexual assault
(2017)
Two studies investigated the effects of information related to rape myths on Spanish college students’ perceptions of sexual assault. In Study 1, 92 participants read a vignette about a nonconsensual sexual encounter and rated whether it was a sexual assault and how much the woman was to blame. In the scenario, the man either used physical force or offered alcohol to the woman to overcome her resistance. Rape myth acceptance (RMA) was measured as an individual difference variable. Participants were more convinced that the incident was a sexual assault and blamed the woman less when the man had used force rather than offering her alcohol. In Study 2, 164 college students read a scenario in which the woman rejected a man’s sexual advances after having either accepted or turned down his offer of alcohol. In addition, the woman was either portrayed as being sexually attracted to him or there was no mention of her sexual interest. Participants’ RMA was again included. High RMA participants blamed the victim more than low RMA participants and were less certain that the incident was a sexual assault, especially when the victim had accepted alcohol and was described as being sexually attracted to the man. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the prevention and legal prosecution of sexual assault.
Using two clinical samples of patients, the presented studies examined the construct validity of the recently revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3). Confirmatory factor analyses established a clear three-factor structure that corresponds to the postulated subdivision of the construct into correlated somatic, social, and cognitive components. Participants with different primary clinical diagnoses differed from each other on the ASI-3 subscales in theoretically meaningful ways. Specifically, the ASI-3 successfully discriminated patients with anxiety disorders from patients with nonanxiety disorders. Moreover, patients with panic disorder or agoraphobia manifested more somatic concerns than patients with other anxiety disorders and patients with nonanxiety disorders. Finally, correlations of the ASI-3 scales with other measures of clinical symptoms and negative affect substantiated convergent and discriminant validity. Substantial positive correlations were found between the ASI-3 Somatic Concerns and body vigilance, between Social Concerns and fear of negative evaluation and socially inhibited behavior, and between Cognitive Concerns and depression symptoms, anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and subjective complaints. Moreover, Social Concerns correlated negatively with dominant and intrusive behavior. Results are discussed with respect to the contribution of the ASI-3 to the assessment of anxiety-related disorders.
Research in legal decision making has demonstrated the tendency to blame the victim and exonerate the perpetrator of sexual assault. This study examined the hypothesis of a special leniency bias in rape cases by comparing them to cases of robbery. N = 288 participants received descriptions of rape and robbery of a female victim by a male perpetrator and made ratings of victim and perpetrator blame. Case scenarios varied with respect to the prior relationship (strangers, acquaintances, ex-partners) and coercive strategy (force vs. exploiting victim intoxication). More blame was attributed to the victim and less blame was attributed to the perpetrator for rape than for robbery. Information about a prior relationship between victim and perpetrator increased ratings of victim blame and decreased perceptions of perpetrator blame in the rape cases, but not in the robbery cases. The findings support the notion of a special leniency bias in sexual assault cases.
Background: Obesity is not only a highly prevalent disease but also poses a considerable burden on children and their families. Evidence is increasing that a lack of self-regulation skills may play a role in the etiology and maintenance of obesity. Our goal with this currently ongoing trial is to examine whether training that focuses on the enhancement of self-regulation skills may increase the sustainability of a complex lifestyle intervention.
Methods/Design: In a multicenter, prospective, parallel group, randomized controlled superiority trial, 226 obese children and adolescents aged 8 to 16 years will be allocated either to a newly developed computer-training program to improve their self-regulation abilities or to a placebo control group. Randomization occurs centrally and blockwise at a 1:1 allocation ratio for each center. This study is performed in pediatric inpatient rehabilitation facilities specialized in the treatment of obesity. Observer-blind assessments of outcome variables take place at four times: at the beginning of the rehabilitation (pre), at the end of the training in the rehabilitation (post), and 6 and 12 months post-rehabilitation intervention. The primary outcome is the course of BMI-SDS over 1 year after the end of the inpatient rehabilitation. Secondary endpoints are the self-regulation skills. In addition, health-related quality of life, and snack intake will be analyzed.
Discussion: The computer-based training programs might be a feasible and attractive tool to increase the sustainability of the weight loss reached during inpatient rehabilitation.
Background: Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is not only a highly prevalent disease but also poses a considerable burden on children and their families. Untreated, FAP is highly persistent until adulthood, also leading to an increased risk of psychiatric disorders. Intervention studies underscore the efficacy of cognitive behavioral treatment approaches but are limited in terms of sample size, long-term follow-up data, controls and inclusion of psychosocial outcome data.
Methods/Design: In a multicenter randomized controlled trial, 112 children aged 7 to 12 years who fulfill the Rome III criteria for FAP will be allocated to an established cognitive behavioral training program for children with FAP (n = 56) or to an active control group (focusing on age-appropriate information delivery; n = 56). Randomization occurs centrally, blockwise and is stratified by center. This study is performed in five pediatric gastroenterology outpatient departments. Observer-blind assessments of outcome variables take place four times: pre-, post-, 3- and 12-months post-treatment. Primary outcome is the course of pain intensity and frequency. Secondary endpoints are health-related quality of life, pain-related coping and cognitions, as well as selfefficacy.
Discussion: This confirmatory randomized controlled clinical trial evaluates the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral intervention for children with FAP. By applying an active control group, time and attention processes can be controlled, and long-term follow-up data over the course of one year can be explored.
Background: There is an increasing awareness of the impact of parental risk perception on the weight course of the child and the parent's readiness to engage in preventive efforts, but only less is known about factors related to the parental perception of the right time for the implementation of preventive activities. The aim of this study was to examine parental perceptions of the appropriate time to engage in child weight management strategies, and the factors associated with different weight points at which mothers recognize the need for preventive actions.
Methods: 352 mothers with children aged 2-10 years took part in the study. We assessed mothers' perceptions of the actual and preferred weight status of their child, their ability to identify overweight and knowledge of its associated health risks, as well as perceptions of the right time for action to prevent overweight in their child. A regression analysis was conducted to examine whether demographic and weight related factors as well as the maternal general risk perception were associated with recognizing the need to implement prevention strategies.
Results: Although most of the parents considered a BMI in the 75th to 90th percentile a valid reason to engage in the prevention of overweight, 19% of the mothers were not willing to engage in prevention until their child reached the 97th percentile. Whereas the child's sex and the identification of an elevated BMI were significant predictors for parents' recognition of the 75th percentile as right point to engage in prevention efforts, an inability to recognize physical health risks associated with overweight silhouettes emerged as a significant factor predicting which parents would delay prevention efforts until a child's BMI reached the 97th percentile.
Conclusion: Parental misperceptions of overweight and associated health risks constitute unfavorable conditions for preventive actions. Feedback on the health risks associated with overweight could help increase maternal readiness for change.