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People with intellectual disabilities are at a significantly higher risk than the general population for experiencing a wide range of adverse and potentially traumatic events. This paper aims to explore the incidence of experiences of lifetime trauma across this population in one Forensic Intellectual Disability Service. Risk management recommendations and psychological risk formulations were also examined for their consideration of traumatic experiences.

Risk assessment reports (n = 39) were reviewed for evidence of traumatic experiences and the consideration of trauma in patient risk formulations and risk management treatment recommendations.

Trauma was rated as present or partially present in 84.6% (n = 33) of risk assessment reports reviewed. None of the patients had received a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Recommendations regarding trauma were identified in 39.4% (n = 13) of the risk assessment reports where trauma was rated either “present” or “partially present”.

Findings suggest a need for diagnostic tools to be used to measure trauma symptoms and potential cases of PTSD to best support needs of patients. Trauma-focused interventions should also be considered. Further investigation is needed to clarify the disparity between the consideration of trauma in formulations and treatment recommendations.

This study highlights the different traumatic experiences that forensic patients across three settings have been exposed to during their lifetimes.

Despite representing a relatively small portion of the population, those who experience repeat victimization make up a significant share of all sexual and violent crimes, implying that perpetrators target them repeatedly. Indeed, research reveals specific traits (e.g. submissiveness) and behaviors (e.g. gait) related to past victimization or vulnerability. The purpose of this study is to explore the link between personality traits, self-assessed vulnerability and nonverbal cues.

In all, 40 undergraduate Canadian women were videotaped while recording a dating profile. Self-report measures of assertiveness, personality traits and vulnerability ratings for future sexual or violent victimization were obtained following the video-recording. The videotape was coded for nonverbal behaviors that have been related to assertiveness or submissiveness.

Self-perceived sexual vulnerability correlated with reduced assertiveness and dominance and increased emotionality (e.g. fear and anxiety). Additionally, nonverbal behaviors differed based on personality traits: self-touch was linked to lower assertiveness, dominance and extraversion and higher submissiveness, emotionality and warm-agreeableness.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to consider the relationships between personality, self-perceived vulnerability and nonverbal behaviors among college-aged women. Potential implications, including enhancing autonomy and self-efficacy, are discussed.

Public service announcements (PSAs) have been shown to be effective instruments that raise awareness, educate society, and change behaviors and attitudes. Many governments and organizations have utilized PSAs on social media to promote online safety among children and youth. However, we have limited understanding of the range of topics that these PSAs address and how they present their content to audiences. This study provides an inventory of the types of online safety topics that current PSAs address and a catalogue of the types of persuasive features employed by PSAs.

A content analysis of 220 YouTube PSA videos on online safety was conducted. Various topics under the umbrella of online safety were identified. Guided by the prospect theory and exemplification theory, different persuasive features employed in the PSAs were sought.

The findings highlight that the primary focus of these PSAs is on online safety behaviors and general instructions on online hygiene. Interestingly, nearly half of the videos employ a neutral frame, while a significant portion provides no evidential support. Additionally, video length was associated with the number of views and likes it gathered but not with the number of comments.

The inventory of PSAs can help researchers, practitioners, and policymakers better understand the type of content being produced and disseminated online as well as identify topics that are either over or under-represented. Further, the catalogue of the types of persuasive features employed by PSAs would be helpful in guiding research, practice, and policymaking in the context of creating effective online safety videos.

This study aimed to examine beliefs in repressed memory and dissociative amnesia from a cross-cultural perspective.

Chinese (n = 123) and Belgian student participants (n = 270) received several statements tapping into various dimensions of repressed memory and dissociative amnesia. Participants provided belief ratings for each of these statements. Because the field of psychoanalysis is less well developed in China, it was expected that Chinese participants would believe less in repressed memory and dissociative amnesia than their Belgian counterparts.

Overall, beliefs in repressed memory and dissociative amnesia were high among all participants. Although confirmatory analyses revealed that most belief ratings concerning statements did not statistically significantly differ between the two samples, Chinese participants did statistically believe less that therapy can recover lost traumatic memories than Belgian participants. Also, exploratory analyses showed that Chinese participants were more critical towards the idea that traumatic memories can be unconsciously repressed and that these memories can be accurately retrieved in therapy than Belgian participants. Many participants also confused repressed memory with plausible memory mechanisms such as ordinary forgetting.

The current study extends previous surveys on repressed memory and dissociative amnesia by comparing their beliefs in different cultures.

The purpose of this paper – the second of three – is to report the findings from a service user needs assessment in those who have contact with a local homelessness service in the North-West of England.

Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that included a section exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences. Aggregated data from a total of 100 completed questionnaires were analysed to understand the nature and scope of those accessing the Homelessness and Vulnerable Adults Service (HVAS).

Homeless people accessing HVAS face a number of challenges, which reflect their upbringing and chaotic and complex lifestyles. Reports of multiple disadvantage, social isolation, physical and mental health problems were common among the cohort.

This was a small cohort study, and the authors accept that this may potentially limit the scope of the findings. Themes identified are, however, reflected in wider research and official data collection sources. Future research may seek to widen the data collection methods to offer a more representative cohort.

The provision of co-ordinated multi-agency support is essential to tackle health inequalities experienced by those who are homeless.

The complex issues often experienced by those who are homeless can further compound the impact of social exclusion on health and well-being. The reduction of statutory support and increased emphasis on self-reliance can further impact those people on the margins of society.

This study identifies how multiple deprivations and social isolation impacts upon health and well-being, further compounding a person’s ability and willingness to engage with services. It raises the question of the systems failure to respond effectively.

Sexual harassment is a worldwide and prevalent problem that can have severe consequences. The #MeToo movement has highlighted that sexual harassment is not an isolated event and is linked to misogynistic cognitions and other forms of sexual violence. However, there is a lack of research regarding the relationship between sexual harassment and its nomological network, particularly in the general population. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the nomological network of harassment.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between perception of harassment and rape myths (RMS), with paraphilia (fantasy and behaviour) as mediators. In addition, the prevalence of paraphilia in the general population was explored and gender difference was analysed. Frequencies, Pearson's r correlations, independent sample t-tests and mediation analyses were conducted on a sample of n = 254 participants from the general population.

Analyses revealed that half of the sample have engaged in at least one paraphilia behaviour. Furthermore, correlations between a more lenient perception of harassment, RM acceptance and paraphilia were found, as well as significant gender differences. Finally, mediation models revealed a strong relationship between RM acceptance and a more lenient perception of harassment, with paraphilia mediating this relationship.

This study has several implications, highlighting the role of misogynistic cognitions in predicting a lenient perception of sexual harassment, and thus, proposing a key focus for prevention and intervention models.

This research is mostly conducted on male samples in these areas; thus, this study aimed to collect data from a diverse sample that may provide a better overview of sexual harassment and its nomological network.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether indicating victims of sexual attacks actively resisted their attacker or froze during their assault affected perceptions of victim blame, perpetrator blame and seriousness of the crime. We also tested whether victim and perpetrator gender or participants’ rape myth endorsement moderated the outcomes.

This study was a cross-sectional, vignette survey study with a 2 × 2 between-participants experimental design. Participants read a mock police report describing an alleged rape with a female or male victim who either resisted or froze, while perpetrator gender was adjusted heteronormatively.

Freezing and male victims were blamed more than resisting and female victims. Perpetrators were blamed more when the victim resisted, but male and female perpetrators were blamed equally. Seriousness of the crime was higher for male perpetrators and when the victim resisted. Female, but not male, rape myth acceptance moderated the relationship between victim behaviour and outcome variables.

This study highlights the influence of expectations about victim behaviour on perceptions of rape victims and the pervasive influence of rape myths when evaluating female rape victims. The data is drawn from the German border region of the Netherlands, which is an especially valuable population given the evolving legal definitions of rape in both countries.

Using the lenses of social exchange and reactance theories, this study examines the relationships between abusive supervision and both turnover intentions and job satisfaction. The moderating role of employee depression in the relationship between abusive supervision and these specific work outcomes is also investigated, by incorporating the conservation of resources theory.

Quantitative data were collected from a sample of 221 frontline retail employees, across shopping malls in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad. A 3-step multiple hierarchical regression analysis was performed to test the relationships.

The findings provided support for the propositions that abusive supervision predicts job satisfaction and turnover intentions, respectively. Employee depression moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and job satisfaction but did not moderate the relationship between abusive supervision and turnover intentions.

While existing research has explored the relationships between abusive supervision, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, limited studies have investigated the moderating role of employee depression. This study contributes to understanding this pervasive workplace issue by investigating a relatively unexplored moderating effect.

Employability skills training programmes are an effective means for reducing unemployment rates. Such programmes also have the potential to improve the general well-being (e.g. self-efficacy) of disadvantaged individuals, however, reliable longitudinal evaluations of the psychological benefits of such programmes are limited. The present study evaluated the impact of an employability programme offered to disadvantaged adults in North-West England on self-efficacy. Additionally, the study aimed to identify risk factors for programme disengagement to identify at-risk groups that require further support.

Secondary longitudinal data pertaining to the background characteristics, programme engagement and self-efficacy scores (repeatedly measured on a monthly basis) of 308 programme users were analysed.

Results demonstrated that employability programme engagement significantly increased self-efficacy scores. Additionally, the findings suggested that individuals with mental health and learning difficulties were more likely to disengage from the programme. The findings demonstrate that employability programmes can have a positive impact on the well-being of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, however, prolonged engagement is needed for which some individuals require further support with.

The present study analysed longitudinal data from a diverse sample of disadvantaged individuals to reliably evaluate psychological outcomes from employability training programmes.

Studies evaluating the external validity of theoretically informed (risk-need-responsivity [RNR]) cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs have not systematically assessed antisocial personality traits as a source of variability in outcomes. The purpose of this brief report is to examine antisocial traits as a potential source of variability in outcomes.

Using longitudinal, program-evaluation data (a sample of incarcerated men who were exposed to RNR-informed CBT), the authors examined how antisocial personality traits, attitudes toward treatment and dosage impacted treatment outcomes. A linear regression assessed the relationship between antisocial personality traits and attitudes toward treatment. A latent profile analysis identified participants with elevated antisocial traits and negative attitudes toward treatment. Treatment dosage groups (0, 5, 10 and 15 weeks) were used to assess treatment response per pro-criminal attitudes, skills and rates of recidivism.

Antisocial traits predicted negative attitudes toward treatment. Elevated antisocial traits and negative treatment attitudes predicted less change in criminal attitudes among those who completed 15 weeks of treatment; higher dosage did not significantly improve rates of recidivism. Variable-centered post hoc analyses largely corroborated these findings. These results suggest RNR-informed CBT may need to be modified for justice-involved persons with elevated antisocial traits.

Few studies have empirically examined the sources of variability in treatment effects for justice-involved persons with antisocial personality traits. This brief report provides a structured examination of factors that may impact treatment outcomes in this population, and therefore aims to inform future research on the effectiveness of empirically supported interventions for people in the legal system.