Desensitization and resensitization to violence against women: Effects of exposure to sexually violent films on judgments of domestic violence victims.

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent films on emotional desensitization and callousness toward domestic abuse victims. Results indicated that emotional response, self-reported physiological arousal, and ratings of the extent to which the films were sexually violent all diminished with repeated film exposure. Three days following exposure to the final film, experimental participants expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and rated their injuries as less severe, than did a no-exposure comparison group. Five days after the final film exposure, their level of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims had rebounded to baseline levels established by the comparison group. Emotional responsiveness at the final film exposure was correlated with levels of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims 3 days later but not at subsequent observation points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of postassault exposure to attack-similar stimuli on long-term recovery of victims.

Recent studies have suggested a classical conditioning explanation for the "core of distress" symptom reported by rape victims that reportedly persists well after most other symptoms have subsided. The current study tested an extension of this theory to the long-term reactions of victims of domestic assault and nondomestic assault in addition to victims of rape. Level of long-term psychological distress was found to be strongly related to level of victim exposure to stimuli in the absence of a subsequent attack; long-term distress level was found to be unrelated to short-term distress level when controlling for level of exposure to attack-similar stimuli. Results suggest the tenability of a classical conditioning model of long-term psychological distress experienced by victims of the types of assault studied, thus highlighting the importance of situational variables in the recovery process. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Violence exposure and emotional trauma as contributors to adolescents'' violent behaviors

Prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) is a purported prostate cancer precursor lesion and a candidate biomarker for efficacy assessment in prostate cancer chemoprevention trials. Loss of expression of the pi-class glutathione S-transferase enzyme GSTP1, which is associated with the hypermethylation of deoxycytidine residues in the 5'-regulatory CG island region of the GSTP1 gene, is a near-universal finding in human prostate cancer. GSTP1 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 60 high-grade PIN samples adjacent to and distant from prostate adenocarcinoma. Whereas abundant enzyme polypeptide expression was evident in all normal prostatic tissues, all samples of high-grade PIN and adenocarcinoma were completely devoid of GSTP1. DNA from 10 high-grade PIN lesions was analyzed for GSTP1 CG island methylation changes using a PCR technique targeting a polymorphic (ATAAA)n repeat sequence in the promoter region of the GSTP1 gene. Somatic GSTP1 CG island methylation changes were detected in DNA from 7 of the 10 PIN lesions. Allele discrimination was possible for 5 of the 10 DNA samples: 2 of the 5 samples exhibited DNA methylation changes at both alleles; whereas 3 samples displayed no DNA methylation changes at either allele. GSTP1 CG island methylation changes were present in each of the five homozygous samples. Hypermethylation of the 5'-regulatory region of the GSTP1 gene may serve as an important molecular genetic biomarker for both prostate cancer and PIN. The finding of frequent GSTP1 methylation changes in PIN and prostate cancer supports a role for PIN lesions as a prostate cancer precursor and may provide insight to the molecular pathogenesis of prostate cancer.     

Sexual arousal to rape depictions: Individual differences.

145 male undergraduates participated (a) in an orientation session in which personality variables, sexual motivations, sexual experience, and self-reported likelihood of raping were assessed and (b) in a laboratory session in which they listened to 1 of 8 audiotaped depictions of an interaction involving sexual acts between a man and a woman. The content of these depictions was systematically manipulated along the dimensions of consent, pain, and outcome. Later in the 2nd session, Ss listened to a 2nd audiotaped portrayal of either nonconsenting or consenting sex. Their sexual arousal was assessed throughout this 2nd session by penile tumescence and self-reports. Results highlight the importance of the interaction between individual differences variables and manipulations in the content of the portrayals in affecting sexual arousal to rape depictions. Support was obtained for the prediction that such arousal is not an isolated response but is associated with other measures of sexually aggressive tendencies. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When women leave violent relationships: Dispelling clinical myths.

This article revisits and reexamines previously reported findings addressing the longitudinal course of violent couples (N. S. Jacobson et al, 1996). The authors engaged in unprecedented efforts to obtain follow-up data from couples that were formerly missing during the 2-yr follow-up. Efforts were remarkably successful, with 11 of the 15 couples supplying marital status information. By recontacting this previously missing subset of data, the authors were able to reanalyze previously reported findings, specifically to examine the validity of 3 pieces of clinical lore: (1) victims of domestic abuse are unlikely to leave their abusive husbands, (2) victims of domestic violence are passive and self-defeating, and (3) physical violence is the most important factor in women's decisions to leave. Reanalyses revealed faults in all 3 of the preceding pieces of lore. The clinical implications of all 3 findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk recognition and trauma-related symptoms among sexually revictimized women.

This study used experimental methodology to investigate the differential impact of various levels of sexual victimization on women's perceptions of risk and evaluative judgments of sexual assault within a dating interaction. Single- and multiple-incident victims were compared with nonvictims. Results supported the hypothesis that revictimized women would exhibit longer latencies than either single incident victims or nonvictims in signaling that an audiotaped date rape should be halted. Revictimized women with greater posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, arousal symptoms in particular, exhibited latencies similar to those of nonvictims, whereas revictimized women with lower levels of PTSD symptoms had significantly longer latencies. Dissociative symptoms were not related to latency These findings suggest that PTSD-related arousal symptoms may serve a buffering effect, increasing sensitivity to threat cues that portend a sexually coercive interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role stereotyping and reactions to depictions of stranger versus acquaintance rape.

Tested 2 hypotheses implicit in the sex-role socialization analysis of rape: that reactions to rape may be affected (a) by the situational context in which a rape is portrayed and (b) by individual differences in sex role stereotyping. 289 male and female college students were classified as either high or low in sex-role stereotyping. They were then randomly assigned to read 1 of 3 sexual depictions (mutually consenting intercourse, stranger rape, and acquaintance rape) and were asked to indicate their sexual arousal and perceptions of the depictions. Male Ss were also asked to indicate the likelihood of their committing rape if they could be assured that no one would know. Results indicate sexual arousal and perceptual differences in reactions to the acquaintance rape vs stranger rape, and as expected, these reactions were mediated by Ss' sex-role stereotyping. High sex-role stereotyping Ss showed sexual arousal patterns like those typically found with identified rapist populations. Of the male Ss, 44% showed some likelihood of raping. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of long-term exposure to volatile irritants on sensory thresholds, negative mucosal potentials, and event-related potentials.

This study examined whether repetitive exposure to an irritant stimulant leads to desensitization and whether such modulation influences the psychological or the physiological response to that chemical. Subjects were exposed to acetic acid vapor in their home environment. Before, during, and after 3 weeks of daily exposure, the authors obtained electrophysiological recordings at peripheral and central levels in combination with psychophysical responses to acetic acid and acetone. Responses to acetic acid decreased during and following exposure. This did not generalize to the control irritant. Thresholds measured 1 year following exposure returned to baseline levels. In summary, repetitive exposure to an irritant vapor results in a specific desensitization to irritancy from that chemical, which appears to originate at a peripheral level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual responsiveness of college students to rape depictions: Inhibitory and disinhibitory effects.

Conducted 2 experiments with a total of 436 undergraduates to identify the specific dimensions in portrayals of sexual violence that inhibit or disinhibit the sexual responsiveness of male and female college students. Exp I replicated earlier findings that normals are less sexually aroused by portrayals of sexual assault than by depictions of mutually consenting sex. In Exp II, it was shown that portraying the rape victim as experiencing an involuntary orgasm disinhibited Ss' sexual responsiveness and resulted in levels of arousal comparable to those elicited by depictions of mutually consenting sex. Surprisingly, however, it was found that although female Ss were most aroused when the rape victim was portrayed as experiencing an orgasm and no pain, males were most aroused when the victim experienced an orgasm and pain. The relevance of these data to pornography and to the common belief among rapists that their victims derive pleasure from being assaulted is discussed. Misattribution, identification, and power explanations of the findings are also discussed. Finally, it is suggested that arousing stimuli that fuse sexuality and violence may have antisocial effects. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Poor diagnostic reliability, the Null-Bayes Logic Model, and their implications for sexually violent predator evaluations.

Forensic psychologists have approached sexually violent predator (SVP) civil commitment evaluations from the position that respondents must be positive for a condition from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association to be classified as SVPs. The only research on DSM diagnostic reliability in SVP cases has been undertaken by J. S. Levenson (2004a) and R. L. Packard and J. Levenson (2006). Although Packard and Levenson claimed that diagnostic evaluations in SVP cases were highly reliable, a reanalysis of their data indicated otherwise. Further, high levels of diagnostic uncertainty were found for a proposed paraphilia referred to as paraphilia not otherwise specified-nonconsent. Diagnostic criteria used to identify paraphilias among SVP respondents are therefore characterized by poor reliability. Logic models that were previously used to determine diagnostic confidence are also obsolete. Recommendations for improving diagnostic reliability are discussed, and the Null-Bayes Logic Model (NBLM) is proposed as a method for reaching certainty opinions that is superior to past models based on unrestrained clinical judgment. The implications of the present results and the NBLM for future practice, research, and policy directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual arousal to rape and consenting depictions: The importance of the woman's arousal.

143 male and female undergraduates were randomly assigned to read 1 of 8 versions of an erotic passage. The independent variables in the stories were nonconsent vs consent, woman's arousal vs disgust, and woman's pain vs no pain. Sex of S was the 4th independent variable. Data indicate that both in terms of experimentally manipulated variables and individual within-cell perceptual differences, the outcome dimension (arousal vs disgust) was the only variable that significantly affected Ss' sexual arousal. Portrayals that depicted the woman as experiencing sexual arousal, irrespective of whether they portrayed rape or consenting interactions, were reported by Ss to be more sexually stimulating than those depicting disgust. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences among sexually abused and nonabused women from functional and dysfunctional families.

This study identified a previously unexamined group of sexual abuse survivors (those from functional families) and addressed methodological flaws in previous research by examining differences among abused women from functional families, abused women from dysfunctional families, nonabused women from dysfunctional families, and nonabused women from functional families. Measures of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal problems were completed by participants along with a measure of overall distress across a cluster of symptoms associated with childhood sexual abuse. On all four measures, the abused-dysfunctional group reported the highest level of psychological distress. Conversely, the level of psychological distress reported by the abused-functional group did not differ from that of the nonabused-functional or nonabused-dysfunctional groups. Research and counseling implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) and the development of sexually dimorphic cognitive abilities and cerebral lateralization.

Investigated the possibility that the perinatal hormonal environment is related to the development of cognitive sex differences in humans by comparing 25 women who had been exposed prenatally to DES, a synthetic estrogen, to their unexposed sisters. All Ss completed word fluency and spatial relations tests, the Wonderlic Personnel Test, and a dichotic listening task. The DES-exposed Ss showed a more masculine pattern of lateralization (i.e., a stronger right-ear advantage) than did their sisters on a verbal dichotic task. However, no differences were observed between exposed and unexposed Ss in verbal or visuospatial ability. Although interpretation of these data must be cautious, they provide some support for a relationship between high prenatal estrogen levels and the development of masculine-typical function in humans. Implications for previous studies of biological contributions to cognitive sex differences and possible mechanisms for estrogenic effects on the development of lateralization are discussed. (114 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field validity of the STATIC-99 and MnSOST-R among sex offenders evaluated for civil commitment as sexually violent predators.

Despite their widespread use in forensic and correctional practice, surprisingly little research investigates how well actuarial risk assessment instruments (ARAIs) for sexual offenders work within the contexts where they are routinely applied. We examined the predictive validity (M = 4.77 years follow-up) of the two most widely used ARAIs for sexual offenders, the STATIC-99 and Minnesota Sex Offender Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST-R), as administered in routine practice among 1,928 offenders screened for possible civil commitment as sexually violent predators. Effect sizes for both ARAIs were lower than in most published research and meta-analytic reviews, although the STATIC-99 was a more consistent predictor of recidivism than the MnSOST-R. Recidivism rates for the STATIC-99 were much closer to those expected based on the 2009 norms than the 2003 norms. Offender characteristics (e.g., age at release, prior arrests, release type) were often as or more effective than ARAIs for predicting recidivism. This study, apparently the largest cross-validation study of popular ARAIs for sex offenders, suggests that the predictive validity of these measures in routine practice in the United States may be poorer than often assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differing about differences: The incidence and interpretation of violent fantasies in women and men.

In response to a critique by C. J. Benton et al (see record 1984-12235-001), the present authors argue that the Benton et al study is not a true replication, as they ignore the most crucial aspect of the research—the content analysis of violent TAT stories. Although Benton et al call attention to a major problem in motivation research, that of a priori classification of pictures, the present authors' content analysis was designed to eliminate such problems by focusing on how the stimulus was interpreted by the individual storywriter, not on how the picture was perceived by the examiner. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Battered women: a study of women who live with violent alcohol-abusing men

This study of women who have repeatedly experienced violence in relationships with alcoholic husbands identifies three distinct types of family of origin. It is suggested that the women carry the conditions of their early family situation into the marriage, and that clinicians' awareness of the background typology may help the women to understand and alter their behavior.     

Psychopathy and violent crime.

Examined the relations between psychopathy, violence, and impulsiveness of criminal behavior within a White prisoner sample of 76 Ss, using level of intelligence as a moderator variable. Prisoners were given the MMPI, the California Psychological Inventory, the Wide Range Achievement Test, and the IPAT Culture Free Intelligence Test (Scale 2). Unlike most prior research, psychopathy was found to be predictive of violence but only for less intelligent criminals; about 90% of this group had committed a violent crime compared to 58% for the remainder of the sample. Similarly, the psychopaths with limited intelligence evidenced the greatest impulsivity in the commission of their crimes relative to bright psychopaths or nonpsychopathic criminals at either level of intelligence. The implications of the findings for the importance of moderating cognitive variables in personality predictions are discussed. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low base rates limit expert certainty when current actuarials are used to identify sexually violent predators: An application of Bayes's theorem.

The author applied Bayes's theorem to agewise sexual recidivism rates and the accuracy of high actuarial scores for predicting sexual recidivism in civil commitment cases. Recidivism rates consistently declined with age, paralleling the age-invariance pattern found for other offenders. Furthermore, actuarials were efficient for only the youngest group, were inaccurate for identifying recidivists, and misclassified many nonrecidivists as recidivists. Opinions about the accuracy of actuarials are therefore often wrong, and actuarials need to be reformulated. Finally, actuarials are useless for identifying likely sexual recidivists from populations with recidivism base rates below .25. Recommendations include seeking new trials in cases that overlooked age, focusing attention on young offenders, limiting commitment periods, and shifting resources from commitment centers to impact all offenders released to the community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of group treatments of women sexually abused as children.

We randomly assigned 65 women who had been sexually abused by a father, stepfather, or other close relative to 1 of 3 treatment conditions: a 10-week interpersonal transaction (IT) group, a 10-week process group, or a wait list condition. Subjects were evaluated at pretreatment, posttreatment, and (if assigned to a group) a 6-month follow-up on measures of social adjustment, depression, fearfulness, and general distress. Results suggested that both the IT and process group formats were more effective than the wait list condition in reducing depression and in alleviating distress; changes were maintained at follow-up. Subjects in the process group format exhibited improvement in social adjustment, whereas subjects in the wait list condition actually deteriorated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intoxication and exposure to stress: Effects of temporal patterning.

In this study we explored the temporal patterning of intoxication and exposure to a stress-producing situation on alcohol's effects on stress. 40 male social drinkers received either a 0.7 g/kg dose of alcohol or a placebo. When exposure to a social stressor preceded intoxication, a significant alcohol-induced increase in heart-rate reactivity was found. When intoxication preceded exposure to the stressor, conventional analysis of the data indicated a stress-dampening effect of alcohol on heart rate. No differences were obtained from self-reports of anxiety in either pattern. The findings are explained in terms of attentional and cognitive-encoding processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)