Christopher P. Krebs

Differential Relationships Between Personal and Community Stressors and Children’s Neurocognitive Functioning

Early adversity can alter development of neurocognition, including executive cognitive and emotional regulatory functions. This is the first study to explore differential relationships between personal (physical and emotional abuse and neglect, school and parental stressors) and community (neighborhood problems and witnessing neighborhood violence) stressors and neurocognition. Predominantly Latino children ( n = 553) aged 10 to 12 years completed tasks measuring intelligence, impulsivity, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, decision making, and emotion attributions. Adjusting for age and parent education, bivariate regression analyses found exposure to personal stressors to be associated with relative deficits in at least one neurocognitive function. Community stressors were related to relative deficits in emotion attributions and problem solving. In multivariate analyses, neglect was related to misattributions of emotion and IQ deficits, and physical abuse was related to problem solving. Community stressors were not correlated with neurocognition when viewed relative to personal stressors. Stressor types were differentially associated with performance on specific neurocognitive tasks.

Women's Sexual Orientations and Their Experiences of Sexual Assault Before and During University

PURPOSE We sought to examine relationships between womens sexual orientations and their sexual assault experiences before and during university. METHODS Self-reported responses on a web-based survey of 5,439 female undergraduates who participated in the Campus Sexual Assault study were analyzed to compare three groups: bisexuals, lesbians, and heterosexuals. Groups were compared in terms of the prevalence of sexual assault before and during university, and the extent to which sexual assault before university predicted sexual assault during university. FINDINGS The prevalence of sexual assault before and during university was higher among bisexuals and lesbians compared with heterosexuals (25.4% of bisexuals, 22.4% of lesbians, and 10.7% of heterosexuals were sexually assaulted before university; 24.0% of bisexuals, 17.9% of lesbians, and 13.3% of heterosexuals were sexually assaulted during university). Sexual assault before university was highly predictive of sexual assault during university, especially among non-heterosexuals. Compared with heterosexuals not sexually assaulted before university (the referent group), previously assaulted non-heterosexuals (bisexuals/lesbians) had eight times the odds of sexual assault during university (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 8.75), whereas previously assaulted heterosexuals had four times the odds of sexual assault during university (AOR, 4.40). However, there was no difference in the odds of sexual assault during university between non-heterosexuals not sexually assaulted before university and heterosexuals not sexually assaulted before university. CONCLUSION Bisexual and lesbian women are more likely than heterosexual women to be sexually assaulted before and during university. Sexual assault before university is linked to sexual assault during university for all women, with this association being especially pronounced among non-heterosexuals.

Psychiatric Comorbidity and Not Completing Jail-based Substance Abuse Treatment

Many jail inmates have a history of mental illness, substance use, and drug-related crime. This article assesses the effect of psychiatric comorbidity on retention in jail-based substance abuse treatment. Secondary data from five jail-based substance abuse treatment programs were studied using descriptive and multivariate analyses. Controlling for age, sex, race, education, and program, the odds of an offender with a history of mental illness being terminated from treatment were nearly three times that of those with no such history. The data suggest that psychiatric comorbidity may be an important correlate of retention in jail-based substance abuse treatment.

The Sexual Assault of Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Although research has shown that undergraduate women are at high risk for experiencing sexual assault, little research has been conducted with undergraduate women who are attending a historically Black college or university (HBCU). The purpose of this research is to document the prevalence of different types of sexual assault among undergraduate women at HBCUs and make comparisons to data collected from undergraduate women at non-HBCUs. Data on sexual assault victimization were collected from 3,951 undergraduate women at HBCUs using a cross-sectional, web-based survey. These data are compared to data collected from 5,446 undergraduate women at non-HBCUs using the same research methods. Findings indicate that approximately 9.7% of undergraduate women at HBCUs report experiencing a completed sexual assault since entering college. This rate is considerably lower than the comparable rate obtained from undergraduate women at non-HBCUs (13.7%). This difference seems to be associated with differences in alcohol-use frequency. Perhaps undergraduate women at HBCUs drink alcohol much less frequently and are thus less likely to be sexually assaulted when they are incapacitated and unable to provide consent. Alcohol use frequency, while controlling for other factors, seems to have an independent association with the likelihood of an undergraduate woman being sexually assaulted. Implications for the creation and delivery of sexual assault risk reduction and prevention policies and programs are discussed.

The Context and Consequences of Sexual Assault Among Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

To examine the context of sexual assault and postassault actions and consequences among women attending historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs), web-based surveys were administered in November 2008 to 3,951 undergraduate women attending four HBCUs. Data on the context in which assaults occurred were generated for women who had been sexually assaulted since entering college (n = 358). Multivariate models were run on the full sample to examine the association between sexual assault and symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results indicated that most survivors were assaulted by assailants well known to them and when the survivor and perpetrator were drinking alcohol. Very few survivors disclosed their experiences to formal sources of support. Survivors had significantly more symptoms of depression and were more likely to screen positive for PTSD than nonvictims. Further research on disclosure and its moderating role on the mental health consequences of sexual assault is needed.

Club drug use among delinquent youth

The availability and use of club drugs have increased in the last decade. Media and researchers have responded with increased coverage and a variety of studies. Despite the increased attention, some of these drugs and the rave/club scene in which they seemingly gained popularity are relatively new. Questions remain about the people who use club drugs, how best to go about preventing or dealing with the use of these substances, and the social contexts, subcultures, and manner in which club drugs are used. Complicating matters, the use and users of club drugs seem to be continually evolving. Club drugs are reportedly now available and used in a wide variety of locations, and the users are changing demographically. Members of racial/ethnic groups who previously avoided club drugs are beginning to use these substances, and the average age of onset appears to be decreasing. Additional research on the epidemiology of club drug use among samples that are demographically and geographically diverse is needed. This study is an analysis of factors associated with several measures of club drug use among a sample of delinquent youth in Oregon. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses are used to identify factors associated with club drug use and determine whether the current grouping of club drugs is appropriate. Findings indicate that users of club drugs are significantly different from delinquent youth who have not used club drugs on a number of dimensions, including age, engagement in risk behaviors, victimization, home environment, and rave attendance.

Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Despite the evidence that young and minority women may be particularly vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV), there is little research on the IPV experiences of minority undergraduate women. This study addresses this gap by estimating the prevalence of IPV and examining factors associated with experiencing IPV among undergraduate women attending Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs). Findings suggest alarmingly high victimization rates; however, factors associated with IPV among HBCU women are similar to those found in prior research with women in the general population. The results also suggest that some risk factors are differentially associated with experiencing specific types of IPV.

Measuring sexual victimization: On what fronts is the jury still out and do we need it to come in?

Rennison and Addington use National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data to document the fact that college women experience violent victimization at a lower rate than women of the same age who do not attend college, which refutes the idea that women in college are at increased risk of being victimized. The measurement of victimization, especially sexual victimization, is, however, a topic that has be the source of much debate. Bureau of Justice Statistics is currently exploring what are the best methods for measuring sexual victimization within the NCVS, and recent methodological research, which is summarized in this article, could inform this process. Although consensus has seemingly been forming around come methods, such as using self-administered survey instruments and behaviorally specific questions when trying to measure sexual victimization, the jury is still out on some other design fronts. What is not clear is whether we need the jury to come in, so to speak. Some methodological variation might be acceptable, especially if the various methods being considered are producing similar results.

The Mediating Effect of Depressive Symptoms on the Relationship between Traumatic Childhood Experiences and Drug Use Initiation

Stressful experiences such as childhood trauma and depressive symptoms have both been implicated in the initiation of drug use; however, longitudinal designs have not yet been used to elucidate their respective roles to better understand the causal sequence. In the present study, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using two mediation strategies to examine how this sequence may differ by various levels of statistical control, including (1) the standard mediational model in which the effect of lifetime traumatic stressors (Year 1) on the onset of drug use (Years 3 and 4) is mediated by levels of depressive symptoms (Year 2); and (2) a stronger test of causality such that the effect of lifetime traumatic stressors (Year 1) on the onset of drug use (Years 3 and 4) was mediated by changes in depressive symptoms (Year 1 to 2), measured by a residualized change score that controlled for levels in Year 1. Two types of trauma were studied in a community-based study of 489 Hispanic preadolescents (aged 10-12): (a) the number of lifetime traumatic stressors and (b) seven specific lifetime stressors. We also controlled for new onset traumatic stressors occurring between Years 1 and 2. Primary findings indicate that drug use initiation during early adolescence (e.g., ages 14-16) may not be tied to immediate proximal perturbations in risk factors, such as traumatic experiences and depressive symptoms. Rather, the effects of trauma on depression in this sample appear to be established earlier in childhood (ages 10-14 or younger) and persist in a relatively stable manner into middle adolescence when the risk for drug use may be heightened.

An Exploration of Treatment and Supervision Intensity Among Drug Court and Non-Drug Court Participants

Evidence is accumulating that drug court programs appear effective in reducing the substance use and recidivism of drug-involved offenders. As there is no single drug court model, programs vary from site to site and the extent to which individual programs are fully implemented is not well documented. The extent to which drug court programs deliver more extensive services to individual offenders than to comparable individuals not participating in drug courts is also not well understood. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the supervision and treatment delivered to a sample of individuals participating in drug courts in Broward and Hillsborough counties, Florida, and to a sample of comparable drug-involved individuals who were sentenced to probation. Data are from in-person interviews conducted shortly after program entry and nine months following the “baseline” interview. Results suggest that the intensity of supervision and the likelihood of treatment were greater for those involved in drug court programs.