{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T18:20:24Z","timestamp":1761762024865,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761696000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener","award":["163-2024-R-UPNW"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["163-2024-R-UPNW"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EJIHPE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Public transportation is one of the primary modes of mobility in urban environments, but it has also become a setting where sexual harassment frequently occurs. This situation not only compromises users\u2019 safety but also has a significant impact on mental health. The objective of the study is to analyze the relationship between public transportation use, sexual harassment, and mental health through directed and undirected network analyses. Methods: This was an associative, basic, quantitative, and cross-sectional study. A total of 507 Peruvian adults (66.7% women) participated by completing a sociodemographic questionnaire and using psychological instruments. A Gaussian graphical model and a directed acyclic graph were used to estimate the networks, including assessments of precision and stability. Results: Results indicated that in the undirected network, public transportation use was associated with sexual harassment and anger. The central symptoms were generalized anxiety and depression. In the directed network, public transportation use influenced both sexual harassment and generalized anxiety. Furthermore, distress and sexual harassment emerged as conditionally dependent on multiple psychological factors. Conclusions: The findings suggest that implementing preventive and psychosocial intervention strategies in the context of public transportation may reduce experiences of sexual harassment and the manifestation of other mental health problems among adults in the general population, thereby promoting safer and healthier public environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ejihpe15110224","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T17:38:22Z","timestamp":1761759502000},"page":"224","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Public Transportation Use, Sexual Harassment, and Mental Health in Adults from the General Population: A Bayesian Network Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2604-7822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jonatan","family":"Ba\u00f1os-Chaparro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa acad\u00e9mico de Psicolog\u00eda, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Diego","family":"Valencia-Pecho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa acad\u00e9mico de Psicolog\u00eda, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5349-7570","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tom\u00e1s","family":"Caycho-Rodr\u00edguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Psicolog\u00eda, Universidad Cient\u00edfica del Sur, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Esteban","family":"Sarmiento-Suarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa acad\u00e9mico de Psicolog\u00eda, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dulce","family":"Bernabel-Tarazona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa acad\u00e9mico de Psicolog\u00eda, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriela","family":"Rivera-\u00c1lvarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa acad\u00e9mico de Psicolog\u00eda, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima 15046, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3277-7036","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julio","family":"Torales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias M\u00e9dicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunci\u00f3n, San Lorenzo 16601, Paraguay"},{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno 5290000, Chile"},{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Sudamericana, Pedro Juan Caballero 130105, Paraguay"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"227","article-title":"Sexual harassment and psychological well-being of the victims: The role of abuse-related shame, fear of being harassed, and social support","volume":"6","author":"Anwar","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eurasian Journal of Medical Investigation"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"e3507","article-title":"Inventario de frecuencia de ideaci\u00f3n suicida: Evidencias psicom\u00e9tricas en adultos peruanos","volume":"100","year":"2021","journal-title":"Revista de Informaci\u00f3n Cient\u00edfica"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boluarte-Carbajal, A., Salazar-Conde, M., Alata Vasquez, S., and Zegarra-L\u00f3pez, A. (2023). Psychometric review of the perceived stress scale under CFA and Rasch models in Lima, Peru. Frontiers in Psychology, 14.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2023.1160466"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1177\/03091325211024340","article-title":"Sexual harassment and the right to everyday life","volume":"46","author":"Boyer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Progress in Human Geography"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"947","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000479","article-title":"A tutorial on Bayesian networks for psychopathology researchers","volume":"28","author":"Briganti","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychological Methods"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"806","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000471","article-title":"Reporting standards for psychological network analyses in cross-sectional data","volume":"28","author":"Burger","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychological Methods"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anyes.2020.06.003","article-title":"Evaluaci\u00f3n psicom\u00e9trica de la versi\u00f3n en espa\u00f1ol del Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5) en universitarios","volume":"26","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ansiedad y Estr\u00e9s"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1080\/01441647.2022.2100943","article-title":"The effect of transport infrastructure, congestion and reliability on mental wellbeing: A systematic review of empirical studies","volume":"43","author":"Monteiro","year":"2023","journal-title":"Transport Reviews"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v048.i04","article-title":"qgraph: Network visualizations of relationships in psychometric data","volume":"48","author":"Epskamp","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Statistical Software"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"e1437","article-title":"Propiedades psicom\u00e9tricas del GAD-7, GAD-2 y GAD-Mini en universitarios peruanos","volume":"10","year":"2022","journal-title":"Prop\u00f3sitos y Representaciones"},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"1129","article-title":"Graph drawing by force-directed placement","volume":"21","author":"Fruchterman","year":"1991","journal-title":"Journal of Software: Practice and Experience"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1108\/JCRPP-08-2016-0016","article-title":"The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment and assault against women and girls on public transport: An international review","volume":"3","author":"Gekoski","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"877","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-010814-015321","article-title":"Internet research in psychology","volume":"66","author":"Gosling","year":"2015","journal-title":"Annual Review of Psychology"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4491","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trpro.2017.05.345","article-title":"Urban form and spatial urban equity in Bogota, Colombia","volume":"25","author":"Guzman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Transportation Research Procedia"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"853","DOI":"10.3758\/s13428-017-0910-x","article-title":"How well do network models predict observations? On the importance of predictability in network models","volume":"50","author":"Haslbeck","year":"2018","journal-title":"Behavior Research Methods"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v093.i08","article-title":"mgm: Estimating time-varying mixed graphical models in high-dimensional data","volume":"93","author":"Haslbeck","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Statistical Software"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1027\/1016-9040\/a000431","article-title":"Bending our ethics code: Avoidable deception and its justification in psychological research","volume":"27","author":"Hilbig","year":"2022","journal-title":"European Psychologist"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1080\/00221300309601282","article-title":"A Monte Carlo evaluation of tests for comparing dependent correlations","volume":"130","author":"Hittner","year":"2003","journal-title":"The Journal of General Psychology"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Iamtrakul, P., Chayphong, S., and Hayashi, Y. (2024). An integrative investigation of travel satisfaction, streetscape perception, and mental health in urban environments. Sustainability, 16, (9).","DOI":"10.3390\/su16093526"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"925","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000439","article-title":"Which estimation method to choose in network psychometrics? Deriving guidelines for applied researchers","volume":"28","author":"Isvoranu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychological Methods"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Isvoranu, A. M., Epskamp, S., Waldorp, L. J., and Borsboom, D. (2022). Network psychometrics with R, Routledge.","DOI":"10.4324\/9781003111238"},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Jones, P. J. (2025, August 18). networktools: Tools for identifying important nodes in networks [R package version 1.4.0], Available online: https:\/\/CRAN.R-project.org\/package=networktools."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110118","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2020.110118","article-title":"Transportation noise exposure and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"191","author":"Lan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Environmental Research"},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"210","article-title":"Documenting #MeToo in public transportation: Sexual harassment experiences of university students in Los Angeles","volume":"44","author":"Brozen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Planning Education and Research"},{"key":"ref_25","first-page":"3395","article-title":"Perceived stress among young working women following sexual harassment in public transport: A cross-sectional study from Northeast India","volume":"6","author":"Nath","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Positive School Psychology"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trpro.2025.03.147","article-title":"Towards gender equity in public transportation: Empirical evidence of sexual harassment in the Hanoi bus, Vietnam","volume":"85","author":"Nguyen","year":"2025","journal-title":"Transportation Research Procedia"},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"360","article-title":"One-year incidence of sexual harassment and the contribution to poor mental health in the adult general population","volume":"32","author":"Canivet","year":"2022","journal-title":"European Journal of Public Health"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tbs.2021.07.010","article-title":"Not my usual trip: Ride-hailing characterization in Mexico City","volume":"25","author":"Oviedo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Travel Behaviour and Society"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v035.i03","article-title":"Learning Bayesian networks with the Bnlearn R package","volume":"35","author":"Scutari","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Statistical Software"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1016\/j.artmed.2012.12.006","article-title":"Identifying significant edges in graphical models of molecular networks","volume":"57","author":"Scutari","year":"2013","journal-title":"Artificial Intelligence in Medicine"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"899","DOI":"10.1037\/tra0001545","article-title":"An introduction to directed acyclic graphs in trauma research","volume":"15","author":"Sonis","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"258","article-title":"Sexual harassment on public transport: A survey study of Rawalpindi, Pakistan","volume":"3","author":"Tabassum","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Humanities, Social and Management Sciences"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101883","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jth.2024.101883","article-title":"The questionnaire on the use of public transportation and well-being (QUPTW): A national survey and validation in Paraguay","volume":"38","author":"Torales","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Transport & Health"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e076193","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-076193","article-title":"Sensitivity and specificity of the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9, PHQ-8, PHQ-2) and general anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7, GAD-2) for depression and anxiety diagnosis: A cross-sectional study in a Peruvian hospital population","volume":"13","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"037013","DOI":"10.1289\/EHP11587","article-title":"Suicide and transportation noise: A prospective cohort study from Switzerland","volume":"131","author":"Wicki","year":"2023","journal-title":"Environmental Health Perspectives"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1080\/00273171.2019.1575716","article-title":"On nonregularized estimation of psychological networks","volume":"54","author":"Williams","year":"2019","journal-title":"Multivariate Behavioral Research"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1177\/03611981231170008","article-title":"Anger expressions of bus drivers and passengers during conflicts on the bus","volume":"2677","author":"Ye","year":"2023","journal-title":"Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board"}],"container-title":["European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2254-9625\/15\/11\/224\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T18:18:21Z","timestamp":1761761901000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2254-9625\/15\/11\/224"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11]]}},"alternative-id":["ejihpe15110224"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ejihpe15110224","relation":{},"ISSN":["2254-9625"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2254-9625","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]]}}}