Prior longitudinal studies have shown high cumulative dating violence exposure rates among U.S adolescents, with 36 percent of males and 44 percent to 88 percent of females experiencing victimization across adolescence/young adulthood. Despite promising information characterizing adolescents’ dating violence experiences longitudinally, prior studies tended to concentrate on physical and sexual types of violence only, and did not report information on the number of times dating violence was experienced across multiple abusive partners. We used a method similar to the timeline follow-back interview to query adolescents about dating violence victimization from age 13 to 19—including dating violence types (physical, sexual, and psychological), frequency, age at first occurrence, and number of abusive partners.

The present investigation expands upon prior studies by examining the relationship between health in late adolescence and the experience of physical/sexual and non-physical dating violence victimization, including dating violence types that are relevant to today’s adolescents (e.g., harassment via email and text messaging). We examined the relationship between physical/sexual and non-physical dating violence victimization from age 13 to 19 and health in late adolescence/early adulthood.

Domestic violence (DV) survivors are susceptible to traumatic and anoxic-hypoxic brain injury, collectively referred to as brain injury (BI). This study characterized: 1) provider perception of the impact of BI on DV survivors’ experiences with advocacy services and 2) survivors’ reported exposures that can lead to BI. Data were collected at five advocacy organizations in 2017: 11 focus groups were conducted with service providers (n = 45 staff & 17 administrators) and interview administered surveys were completed with survivors (n = 49). Our findings indicate a discrepancy between providers’ perception of the potential impact of BI on survivors’ presentation and ability to access services, and survivors’ pervasive exposure to incidents that can cause BI. Over 81% of survivors reported having been hit in the head or been made to have their head hit another object at least once, and over 83% of survivors reported ever having been strangled. Raising organizational capacity to serve DV survivors with BI is necessary. Intervention suggestions are provided.

American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA) Estimating the Prevalence of Human Trafficking: Progress Made and Future Directions, an article from American Journal of Public Health, Vol 109 Issue 10

Introduction: Approximately 70% of youth experiencing homelessness smoke cigarettes; many try to quit and are interested in formal smoking cessation programs. The purpose of this study was to describe the intrapersonal, social, and environmental contexts associated with the most recent smoking experience among youth experiencing homelessness and (2) identify differences in contextual factors by age and willingness to quit. Methods: Thirty-six youth experiencing homelessness aged 14–24 years and who reported current smoking were recruited from a drop-in center in a Midwestern city. Semi-structured in-person interviews were analyzed to understand smoking behaviors. Results: Two-thirds of participants reported stress and nicotine dependence as primary reasons for smoking, and older youth (aged 18–24 years) reported smoking to de-escalate negative emotions associated with stressful events. For 25% of participants, and especially older youth, smoking was described as part of a routine. Over 80% of participants smoked outside at the homeless drop-in center or the places they lived. Social prompts from drop-in center peers regularly preempted smoking. Younger youth (aged 14–17 years) reported smoking socially while older youth were more likely to smoke alone. Conclusions: For youth experiencing homelessness, smoking is integrated into daily life and is often used to manage stress associated with homelessness and engage socially with homeless peers. Multicomponent interventions to reduce structural stressors specific to homelessness, change social smoking norms (environmental and social context), and address stress management and nicotine dependence (intrapersonal context) are needed to support smoking cessation among youth experiencing homelessness. Implications: Youth experiencing homelessness overwhelmingly described how daily stressors associated with homelessness and nicotine dependence preceded recent smoking. Older youth (aged 18–24 years) also reported smoking as “routine”, which likely underscores nicotine dependence in this group. Younger youth (aged 14–17 years) described social smoking. Researchers must develop optimized multilevel interventions to support youth experiencing homelessness who want to quit smoking. Interventions directly targeting social determinants of stress (e.g., poverty, housing instability, food insecurity) and linkages to supportive services are needed. Complementary strategies to address stress coping and nicotine dependence (intrapersonal context) and social smoking norms (social and environmental context) are also necessitated.

RRH: Rural and Remote Health. Published article number: 4338 - A social–contextual investigation of smoking among rural women: multi-level factors associated with smoking status and considerations for cessation