Predicting overt and cyber stalking perpetration by male and female college students

Examining Cyberstalking Perpetration and Victimization: A Scoping Review

In recent years the body of literature on cyberstalking has expanded rapidly. The present work aimed to summarize the current state of the literature on cyberstalking perpetration and victimization in a scoping review. Forty-one quantitative and qualitative studies that examined variables relating to cyberstalking victimization and perpetration were collated. Following the methodology of Arksey and O'Malley (2005), an in-depth thematic analysis of the articles was undertaken. Prevalence of victimization and perpetration rates were compared and key themes synthesized. Despite examining similar young adult populations, the prevalence of victimization was found to range considerably from 0.7% (Reyns & Engelbrecht, 2010) to 85.2% (Strawhun et al., 2013) across studies. Themes were divided into two overarching classifications, factors relating to victimization and factors relating to perpetration. Deviant peer association, low self-control, previous harassment experiences and personality traits were some of the factors most frequently examined in relation to perpetration; whilst online exposure, online disclosure and guardianship were some of the factors most frequently examined in relation to victimization. Within these themes, deviant peer association and low self-control were found to consistently correlate with an increase in both cyberstalking victimization and perpetration. Guardianship and confidence online demonstrated inconsistent results. This review has summarized what is currently known and has been validated within cyberstalking research pertaining to victimization and perpetration, and has identified gaps and potential areas of future development.

Risk Factors for Experiencing Gender Based Violence Across Racial Groups

BACKGROUND

College student interpersonal violence victimization is a major public health issue. Sexual assault and intimate partner violence have negative effects on mental and physical health, as well as an individual's ability to perform well academically and fully participate in the college experience. Because an individual's race impacts how they experience the world, it is important to consider racial differences in experiences of interpersonal violence.

STUDY QUESTION

This study sought to understand the particular characteristics of Black, White, and Hispanic students that increase their risk of experiencing interpersonal violence victimization.

METHOD AND SUBJECTS

Researchers performed a latent class analysis using the Spring 2013 data from the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II to determine whether the risk factors for victimization of college students vary based on race. Data was collected from 123,078 college students attending 153 institutions of higher learning.

FINDINGS

Results of this latent class analysis showed a 5 class solution where each class had unique risks that increased the potential for interpersonal violence victimization based on the race of the respondent.

IMPLICATIONS

Group based differences need to be considered when developing prevention strategies to reduce the risk of victimization on college campuses. Because different risks increase victimization for White, Black, and Hispanic students, it is important to consider how risk reduction strategies may differ for these groups; and ensure that all prevention strategies are culturally informed.

Bridging the Gap: The Predictive Roles of Emotion Dysregulation and Stalking-related Attitudes on Offline and Online Stalking and Intrusive Harassment

Stalking and intrusive harassment (SIH) are prevalent and serious public health issues associated with significant psychological, social, and economic consequences. Further exacerbating this problem is the growing use of technology and the internet, which has facilitated the perpetration of SIH behaviors via electronic means. Given its prevalence and negative impact, it is imperative to identify precursors of cyber and offline SIH to better predict and mitigate its detrimental effects. Thus, the current study examined whether overall emotion dysregulation and stalking-related attitudes are predictive factors of SIH perpetration. In addition, it was determined whether specific difficulties with emotion regulation and stalking supportive attitudes were differentially associated with online and offline SIH perpetration. Participants consisted of 874 university students who completed an online survey comprised of a battery of self-report measures, including the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale, Stalking-related Attitudes Questionnaire, Obsessive-Relational Intrusion Pursuit Short Form, and the Cyber-Obsessional Pursuit scale. Logistic regression analyses revealed that overall emotion dysregulation and greater endorsement of stalking supportive attitudes predicted SIH perpetration. Moreover, emotion regulation difficulties distinguished the domain(s) in which an individual was more likely to perpetrate SIH behaviors. Specifically, those who reported more problems with emotion regulation, particularly a lack of emotional awareness, were more likely to engage in both offline and online SIH behaviors concurrently than to perpetrate purely offline or purely online. These findings have significant implications for stalking risk assessment and prevention efforts. In particular, understanding the predictive roles of emotion dysregulation and stalking-related attitudes on online and offline SIH perpetration can inform the development and improvement of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs, as well as stalking risk assessment instruments.

Perceptions of Stalking: Examining Perceivers' Country of Origin, Perpetrator-Target Prior Relationship, and the Mediating Effect of Victim Responsibility

Research in stalking perceptions has shown certain relational biases, in which people tend to view ex-partner stalkers to be less dangerous than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. These findings are in direct contrast to those of real-life cases whereby ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat. In addition, although stalking is recognized as a global social problem, most studies have been based on samples drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. The current study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and target influences people's perceptions of stalking and whether cross-national differences exist between participants based in Malaysia (where there is currently no law that criminalizes stalking) and England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects design, 294 Malaysian participants and 170 English participants were presented with a vignette describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants judged the extent to which the perpetrator's behavior constitutes stalking; necessitates police intervention; would cause the victim alarm or personal distress; would cause the victim to fear the use of violence; and can be attributed to encouragement on the part of the victim. Results showed that typical relational biases existed in both samples, but Malaysian participants were less likely than their English counterparts to label any harassing scenario as serious. Perceptions of victim responsibility were found to mediate the effect of prior relationship and nationality on participants' perceptions. The findings point to the urgency of better cross-cultural understanding of harassment behavior as well as legislations against stalking.

Development and Validation of the Stalking and Obsessive Relational Intrusions Questionnaire (SORI-Q)

Stalking and obsessive relational intrusions both refer to a pervasive and unwanted pattern of pursuit behaviors, the former being a criminal offense evoking fear and a sense of menace in the victim, while the latter may be perceived as annoying or otherwise undesirable, but not necessarily fear inducing. While the individual and societal costs of stalking and obsessive relational intrusion are increasingly recognized, research regarding these behaviors and their consequences has been limited by measurement issues, as most studies have relied on questionnaires and checklists based on very limited validation data. The goal of the present study is to report on the development and validation of the Stalking and Obsessive Relational Intrusions Questionnaire (SORI-Q), a 28-item self-report questionnaire designed to probe for perpetration of stalking-like behaviors. Young adults (age 18-30 years) from a community sample (N = 1,804; 82.6% women) were recruited online. They completed the SORI-Q, along with measures of dark personality traits, insecure attachment dimensions, and intimate partner violence. Overall, the SORI-Q displayed sound psychometric properties. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded a two-factor solution (Hyper-intimacy and Domineering control) with adequate to good fit indices. The total scale and the two factor scores showed high internal consistency (above 0.70 for all indices). A number of gender differences were observed at total-, factor-, and item-level, the most outstanding being that women had a higher score on the total SORI-Q score, and on the Domineering control factor and most of its items. The questionnaire showed conceptually meaningful positive correlations with dark personality traits, attachment anxiety, and intimate partner violence. Dominance analysis revealed that attachment anxiety and Machiavellianism were the strongest statistical predictors of SORI-Q scores. The SORI-Q should be seen as a promising new measure of stalking-like and ORI behaviors in young adults from community settings.

Examining the Influence of Gender, Child Abuse, and Narcissism on Four Forms of Interpersonal Violence Among Men and Women College Students

This study examines the moderating effects of gender, child abuse, and pathological narcissism on self-reported stalking, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression in undergraduate men and women. Child abuse was positively associated with engaging in all forms of interpersonal violence for both genders. For women, pathological narcissism moderated this association such that higher levels of pathological narcissism reduced the association between child abuse and engaging in stalking, sexual harassment, sexual aggression. For men. pathological narcissism exhibited independent positive associations with engagement in sexual harassment and sexual aggression and a negative association with engagement in intimate partner violence, but no moderating effects. These gender differences have important implications for the assessment of women's violence, and university violence prevention and advocacy programs.

Pathological narcissism: An analysis of interpersonal dysfunction within intimate relationships

Pathological narcissism is marked by deficits in psychosocial functioning. Difficulties in relationships include instances of aggression, devaluation and control; however, few studies have examined these relationships from the perspective of partners and family members. We studied participants who were in relationships with relatives high in narcissistic traits (N = 436; current romantic partners [57.3%]; former romantic partners [21.1%]; family members [15.4%]). Participant responses were analysed thematically, and their underlying mental health problems were also measured. Thematic analysis of participant responses indicated themes of abuse from the relative with narcissism (physical, verbal, emotional and sexual) as well as the relative imposing challenging financial and sexual behaviours. There were complex interpersonal themes of mutual idealization but also devaluation. In response, participants reported high levels of anxiety, depression, self-aggression, sickness and somatic concerns. Further, participants expressed overt outward hostility towards their relative with narcissism, but also dependency strivings and frustrated dependency themes. Partners and their relative with narcissism appeared locked into interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamic conflicts. Clinical implications include specific attendance to alliance issues, dependency themes, and a focus on limit setting to establish personal safety.

Dispelling a Myth: Reevaluating the Predictive Validity of Rape Myth Acceptance for Likelihood of Engaging in Sexual Violence

Sexual violence prevention on college campuses has received significant recent attention. A prevalent intervention paradigm has centered around re-educating young people around consent and reduce endorsement of "rape myths," based on the correlation between rape myths and sexual violence incidents. Yet many of these programs have not measurably reduced sexual assaults. We evaluated the predictive value of a rape myth measure, as compared with other predictors (criminal history, childhood victimization, aggressive tendencies, substance use, and empathy), in predicting self-reported acts of forcible and incapacitated sexual assault in college-age men (N = 304) from 45 U.S. states. Across three logistic regression model pairs, rape myths were weakly associated with violence when considered as sole predictors. However, this predictive power dissipated when other predictors were included. Comprehensive models accounted significantly better for variability in outcomes; with criminal history demonstrating consistent predictive effects. Based on these findings, we recommend further research into prevention programming based on other predictors of violence.

Unraveling the Roles of Distrust, Suspicion of Infidelity, and Jealousy in Cyber Dating Abuse Perpetration: An Attachment Theory Perspective

People who are anxiously attached, distrustful and jealous of their partners, and suspect infidelity are more likely to use psychological dating violence. Is this also true for cyber dating abuse perpetration (CDAP)? This study investigated the prevalence of and gender differences in self-reported CDAP and whether trust, anticipated partner infidelity, and jealousy serially mediated the association between anxious attachment and CDAP in a sample of Turkish college students. College students (N = 390) completed the Cyber Dating Violence Inventory, Anxious Attachment subscale of the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form, Dyadic Trust Scale, Cognitive Jealousy subscale of the Multidimensional Jealousy Scale, Partners' Intentions Towards Infidelity Scale, and a Demographic Information Form. A total of 67% of the sample used at least one cyber abusive behavior with their partner over the last 6 months. A multiple serial mediation model indicated that greater anxious attachment was related to more dyadic distrust, the anticipation of partner infidelity, and jealousy, and, in turn, to the use of cyber dating abuse. Overall, results show that the prevalence of CDAP is high and that attachment theory offers a promising framework for identifying predictors of CDAP in emerging adults. These findings have implications for research, intervention, and prevention of CDAP by identifying potential risk factors for perpetrating cyber abuse.

The Role of Gender, Child Maltreatment, Alcohol Expectancies, and Personality Pathology on Relationship Violence Among Undergraduates

Male (n = 1,104) and female (n = 1,337) college students' self-report surveys on childhood maltreatment, alcohol expectancies, and narcissistic personality traits are examined to determine their associations with relationship violence. Intimate partner violence was measured using the violence subscales of the revised Conflict Tactics. Because we were interested in the effects of gender and because z tests of the correlations and t tests of means indicated men and women differed significantly on several variables, ordinary least squares regression models were run separately for men and women. Results suggest there are both gender similarities and differences. Relationship violence was associated with child sexual abuse for both men and women, whereas high scores on negative alcohol expectancies and vulnerable narcissism, and low scores on grandiose narcissism, were significantly associated with violence for men only. In addition, z tests revealed the regression coefficients for child sexual abuse and negative alcohol expectancies were significantly different for men and women. Child sexual abuse and alcohol expectancies had stronger associations with men's than women's violent behavior. In addition, the models explained a greater amount of variance in men's than in women's behavior. Policy implications of the research will be discussed.

Stalking Victimization and Substance Use in College Dating Relationships: An Exploratory Analysis

Traditionally, most dating violence research has focused on physical aggression and has left stalking behaviors largely unexamined, despite evidence that stalking of an intimate partner occurs with high frequency. Moreover, the extent to which stalking victimization has the same negative mental health consequences as other forms of dating violence is unclear. Thus, using a sample of male and female undergraduate students in current dating relationships (N = 357), the association between stalking victimization and alcohol and drug use was explored. Results indicated that for both men and women, stalking victimization from a dating partner was related to alcohol and drug use, even after controlling for age, gender, length of dating relationship, and physical aggression victimization. These preliminary findings suggest that stalking victimization is associated with deleterious consequences; thus, additional research is needed to better understand the longitudinal, long-term consequences of stalking victimization. Additional implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Correlates of Cyberstalking Victimization and Perpetration Among College Students

Few studies have examined theoretical predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending. The current study, guided by self-control theory and a feminist framework, analyzed predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending among undergraduate college students (N = 662). College women were at increased risk of cyberstalking victimization, but were also more likely to report having engaged in cyberstalking perpetration. Higher levels of self-control reduced the likelihood of cyberstalking victimization and offending. While Greek life membership and holding adversarial heterosexual beliefs did not affect cyberstalking victimization and offending, gender stereotyping decreased the odds of experiencing cyberstalking victimization. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Relationship Between Offline and Online Stalking Victimization: A Gender-Specific Analysis

This study focuses on the relationship between online and offline stalking through a gendered approach. Experiencing offline stalking victimization was examined as a precursor to online stalking victimization, and experiencing cyberstalking victimization was investigated as a predictor of offline stalking victimization. These relationships also were tested separately for females and males using a sample of college students (N = 3,488) from two large universities-one in the Midwest and one in the South. The results for the full sample indicate that being stalked offline increases students' likelihood of being stalked online. However, being a victim of cyberstalking did not affect students' chances of being stalked offline. In the gender-specific analyses, findings suggest that females who are cyberstalked are less likely to be successively stalked offline, whereas males who are cyberstalked are more likely to be stalked offline. Finally, offline stalking victimization was a significant predictor of online victimization for females, but not males. These findings suggest that offline and online forms of stalking victimization are interrelated under some circumstances, and highlight the importance of the victim's gender in moderating this relationship.

Influence of Intimate Partner Violence and Depression on Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and dating violence is a significant problem among college-age students. IPV has an associative outcome of depression and lower academic performance, but it is unknown how it relates to undergraduate nursing students.

METHOD

Two literature searches were performed for IPV and depression from a combination of 87 databases including EBSCO, Proquest, Nursing at OVID, Medline, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycARTICLES, JSTOR, SAGE journals, and Google Scholar.

RESULTS

Initial results yielded 24,675 research studies on IPV, dating violence, and depression. Forty-eight level-three studies were identified using the John Hopkins School of Nursing evidence-based practice model, including 42 nonexperimental studies, three meta-syntheses, and three governmental studies.

CONCLUSION

Relevant data on the prevalence rates of IPV and depression among nursing students are lacking. IPV and dating violence among college students places them at a higher risk for failure and poor academic performance. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):397-403.].

Harassment, stalking, threats and attacks targeting New Zealand politicians: A mental health issue

OBJECTIVE

Due to the nature of their work, politicians are at greater risk of stalking, harassment and attack than the general population. The small, but significantly elevated risk of violence to politicians is predominantly due not to organised terrorism or politically motivated extremists but to fixated individuals with untreated serious mental disorders, usually psychosis. Our objective was to ascertain the frequency, nature and effects of unwanted harassment of politicians in New Zealand and the possible role of mental illness in this harassment.

METHODS

New Zealand Members of Parliament were surveyed, with an 84% response rate (n = 102). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected on Parliamentarians' experiences of harassment and stalking.

RESULTS

Eighty-seven percent of politicians reported unwanted harassment ranging from disturbing communications to physical violence, with most experiencing harassment in multiple modalities and on multiple occasions. Cyberstalking and other forms of online harassment were common, and politicians felt they (and their families) had become more exposed as a result of the Internet. Half of MPs had been personally approached by their harassers, 48% had been directly threatened and 15% had been attacked. Some of these incidents were serious, involving weapons such as guns, Molotov cocktails and blunt instruments. One in three politicians had been targeted at their homes. Respondents believed the majority of those responsible for the harassment exhibited signs of mental illness.

CONCLUSION

The harassment of politicians in New Zealand is common and concerning. Many of those responsible were thought to be mentally ill by their victims. This harassment has significant psychosocial costs for both the victim and the perpetrator and represents an opportunity for mental health intervention.

Development of a brief version of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory

With theoretical and empirical interest in narcissism growing, there is a need for brief measures of pathological narcissism that can be used more practically while assessing the construct comprehensively. Data from four samples (total N = 3,851) collected across two separate research groups and representing undergraduate, community, and clinical populations were used to establish the reliability, validity, and utility of the Brief-Pathological Narcissism Inventory (B-PNI). Item response theory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the best-performing 28 items from the original PNI and ensure that the B-PNI exhibited a factor structure consistent with the original PNI. Items were retained for all seven pathological narcissism facet scales. Additional results also support the criterion validity of the B-PNI, suggesting that it can be used in place of the original PNI to assess the various facets of pathological narcissism effectively and without loss of information, which may enhance the ability of researchers to investigate pathological narcissism in future work.

The Significant Frequency and Impact of Stealth (Nonviolent) Gender-Based Abuse Among College Women

The prevalence, incidence, and impact of the gender-based abuse (GBA) of college women have been increasingly documented since the 1980s, with growing precision in the measurements and expanding identification of tactics. Although there is an obvious class bias in focusing on college women (compared to women of similar ages not attending college), it is important to address GBA among this population as they are at serious risk of sexual abuse (particularly incapacitated rape), intimate partner abuse (IPA), and stalking. This article addresses the stealth nature of the nonviolent GBAs of college women and how these abuses frequently operate under the radar of acknowledgment by society, the abusers, campus officials, the criminal legal system, and sometimes, the survivors.

Child maltreatment, personality pathology, and stalking victimization among male and female college students

Self-report college student surveys on childhood maltreatment, and borderline and narcissistic personality features are examined to determine their influence on stalking victimization vulnerability. Stalking victimization was measured using Spitzberg and Cupach's (2008) Obsessive Relational Intrusion scale. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were run separately for men (N = 677) and women (N = 1,017). Results indicated childhood sexual maltreatment and borderline traits were associated with stalking victimization among both men and women. These were the only significant relationships for men (R2 = .10). For women, stalking victimization was also associated with narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability and with a child sexual abuse by borderline features interaction (R2 = .13), demonstrating women reporting prior sexual abuse and borderline personality pathology are especially vulnerable. Methodological and policy implications are discussed.

Prospective Predictors of Technology-Based Sexual Coercion by College Males

OBJECTIVE

Technology-based coercive behavior (TBC) represents an emerging public health problem. This study contributes to the literature by identifying prospective individual-, social-, and community-level predictors of TBC.

METHOD

Data were collected from 800 males who participated in a prospective study on attitudes and behaviors regarding relationships with women. Variables across multiple ecological layers were used to predict TBC.

RESULTS

Bivariate analyses indicated that 16 of the 17 risk variables significantly predicted TBC including anger, impulsivity, sexual compulsivity, hostility towards women, rape supportive beliefs, high-risk drinking, childhood sexual abuse, interparental conflict, peer pressure to engage in sex, peer approval of forced sex, number of sexual partners, perceived negative sanctions for sexual aggression, exposure to pornography, and participation in varsity sports, student government, and religious groups. Multivariate regression analyses indicated five variables uniquely accounted for TBC behaviors, including rape supportive beliefs, peer approval of forced sex, number of sexual partners, exposure to pornography, and participation in student government.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings that TBC can be prospectively predicted by these risk factors suggest that computer-based technology interventions focusing on these factors through social network ads that promote reflection on healthy social and romantic relationship behaviors and attitudes could help prevent and reduce TBC.

An integrative approach to the assessment of narcissism

Narcissism research is poorly calibrated across fields of study in part due to confusion over how to integrate normal and pathological descriptions of narcissism. We argue that pathological and normal narcissism can be integrated in a single model that organizes around self-regulation mechanisms. We present theoretical and empirical support for this interpretation, and demonstrate that modeling pathological and normal narcissism as 2 dimensions underlying the narcissistic character can help to resolve some of the inconsistencies in the field regarding how to best assess adaptive and maladaptive expressions of narcissism.