Original article
Prevalence of Teen Dating Violence and Co-occurring Risk Factors Among Middle School Youth in High-Risk Urban Communities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.07.019Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study describes the lifetime prevalence of teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration in a sample of middle school students from high-risk urban communities and examines the relation between TDV and related cognitive and behavioral risk factors.

Methods

Surveys were administered to 2,895 middle school students in four U.S. cities; 1,673 students (58%) reported having dated and were included in analyses. The sample was 52.3% female, 48.2% non-Hispanic black/African-American, 38.2% Hispanic, 4.8% non-Hispanic white, and 7.6% other race. Six types of TDV perpetration were assessed: threatening behaviors, verbal/emotional abuse, relational abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking.

Results

Of the students who had dated, 77% reported perpetrating verbal/emotional abuse, 32% reported perpetrating physical abuse, 20% reported threatening a partner, 15% reported perpetrating sexual abuse, 13% reported perpetrating relational abuse, and 6% reported stalking. Girls were more likely than boys to report perpetrating threatening behaviors, verbal/emotional abuse, and physical abuse, and boys were more likely to report perpetrating sexual abuse. Involvement in bullying positively predicted perpetration of TDV, albeit, in different ways for boys and girls. Other risk factors differed by sex. For instance, alcohol use and sex initiation predicted multiple forms of TDV perpetration for boys, whereas weapon carrying and emotional symptoms predicted several forms of TDV perpetration for girls.

Conclusions

The prevalence of TDV was high in our sample. Important sex differences in rates of perpetration and risk factors emerged. Comprehensive prevention programs that target TDV and related risk factors, such as bullying and other risk factors, seem warranted.

Section snippets

Present study

The present study is exploratory in nature and will address these gaps in the TDV literature by (1) examining the prevalence of perpetration in a sample of middle school youth from high-risk urban communities and (2) exploring the association between modifiable cognitive and behavioral risk factors and TDV to inform current and future prevention efforts. The sample for the present study is drawn from the student (sixth to eighth grades) baseline surveys from the evaluation of the Dating

Design

The Dating Matters evaluation involves a cluster randomized controlled trial, in which 46 schools in four sites were randomly assigned to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive approach or the “standard of care” approach, which was operationalized as the Safe Dates program for eighth graders. The present study focuses on baseline survey data (before intervention) collected from students in sixth to eighth grades in the first year of implementation (2012–2013 school year).

Participants

Participants

Descriptives

Among the 1,653 students who reported dating, 77% reported perpetrating verbal/emotional abuse at least once in their lifetime, 33% reported perpetrating physical abuse, 20% reported perpetrating threatening behaviors, 15% reported perpetrating sexual violence, 13% reported perpetrating relational aggression, and 6% reported stalking a partner. Chi-square analyses indicated significant sex differences on all outcomes except relational aggression and stalking. More girls than boys reported

Discussion

This study described TDV perpetration prevalence and explored the relation between TDV perpetration and other cognitive and behavioral risk factors among the Dating Matters sample. Our sample reported high lifetime TDV perpetration prevalence rates compared with other perpetration rates reported in the literature [3], [28]. High rates of TDV may be due to the high-risk nature of the sample, but it is also possible that our reported rates are higher than those typically reported in the

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the participation of students and schools in the Dating Matters initiative. We also would like to acknowledge the contribution of each funded public health department; specifically the Alameda County Public Health Department (CE002052), Baltimore City Health Department (CE002050), Broward County Health Department (CE002048), and Chicago Department of Public Health (CE002054). Lastly, we acknowledge our contractors who manage program implementation and data collection

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    Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

    Disclaimer: Publication of this article was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The opinions or views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funders.

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