This article reviews the psychometric properties of the Stressful Life Events

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Male violence is an enduring feature of women's lives from childhood through old age. The review covers child sexual abuse, rape, and partner violence with emphasis on the prevalence of violence, its mental health consequences, the course of recovery, and mediators and moderators of traumatic impact. The primary focus is depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, the two major diagnostic entities through which postassault emotions and behaviors have been conceptualized and measured. The effects of psychiatric conceptualizations of victimization and patterns of individual recovery are critically reviewed. The PTSD paradigm as the sole foundation for most victimization research is also debated. Following the review, mental health services for victimized women are examined. The article concludes with public policy recommendations to improve the availability and accessibility of mental health services with emphasis on reaching those survivors who are less likely to consult the formal system.

Prevalence and correlates of adult physical assault and rape in six Native American tribes are presented (N = 1,368). Among women, 45% reported being physically assaulted and 14% were raped since age 18 years. For men, figures were 36% and 2%, respectively. Demographic characteristics, adverse childhood experiences, adulthood alcohol dependence, and cultural and regional variables were assessed. Using logistic regression, predictors of physical assault among women were marital status, an alcoholic parent, childhood maltreatment, and lifetime alcohol dependence. Predictors of sexual assault among women were marital status, childhood maltreatment, and lifetime alcohol dependence. Among men, only childhood maltreatment and lifetime alcohol dependence predicted being physically assaulted. Tribal differences existed in rates of physical assault (both sexes) and rape (women only). The results underscore the problem of violence victimization among Native Americans and point to certain environmental features that increase risk of adulthood physical and sexual assault. Implications for tribe-specific interventions are discussed.

Objective-Genetic variation influences differential vulnerability to addiction within populations. However, it remains unclear whether differences in frequencies of vulnerability alleles contribute to disparities between populations and to what extent ancestry correlates with differential exposure to environmental risk factors, including poverty and trauma.Method-The authors used 186 ancestry-informative markers to measure African ancestry in 407 addicts and 457 comparison subjects self-identified as African Americans. The reference group was 1,051 individuals from the Human Genome Diversity Cell Line Panel, which includes 51 diverse populations representing most worldwide genetic diversity. Results-AfricanAmericans varied in degrees of African, European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian genetic heritage. The overall level of African ancestry was actually smaller among cocaine, opiate, and alcohol addicts (proportion=0.76-0.78) than nonaddicted African American comparison subjects (proportion=0.81). African ancestry was associated with living in impoverished neighborhoods, a factor previously associated with risk. There was no association between African ancestry and exposure to childhood abuse or neglect, a factor that strongly predicted all types of addictions.Conclusions-These results suggest that African genetic heritage does not increase the likelihood of genetic risk for addictions. They highlight the complex interrelation between genetic ancestry and social, economic, and environmental conditions and the strong relation of those factors to addiction. Studies of epidemiological samples characterized for genetic ancestry and social, psychological, demographic, economic, cultural, and historical factors are needed to better disentangle the effects of genetic and environmental factors underlying interpopulation differences in vulnerability to addiction and other health disparities.Racial differences in drug abuse and its consequences have long been described, but the relative importance of genetic and social factors related to race and drug abuse is ambiguous (1). Health disparities between races may be mistakenly attributed to genetic variation when these