Original article
Dating violence among gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents: results from a community survey

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00407-XGet rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To characterize the prevalence of dating violence experienced by gay, lesbian, bisexual (GLB), and heterosexual adolescents.

Methods

Self-report surveys were collected and analyzed from 521 adolescents at a GLB youth rally. Respondents were asked about dating violence, including types of abuse, threats of “outing,” and gender of abuser. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to test group differences.

Results

Reports of dating violence were prevalent in all sexual orientation groups, and there were few statistically significant differences. Compared with heterosexuals and controlling for age, bisexual males had greater odds of reporting any type of abuse, and bisexual females had greater odds of experiencing sexual abuse. Controlling for age, lesbians had greater odds of being scared about their safety, compared with heterosexual females, and bisexuals were more likely to be threatened with outing, compared with gay males/lesbians.

Conclusions

Overall, the prevalence of dating violence among GLB adolescents is similar to that of heterosexuals. Dating violence outreach and prevention efforts should be targeted to reach GLB adolescents.

Section snippets

Setting and study sample

A community-based gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth organization in the Northeast administered an anonymous, self-report survey to a convenience sample of adolescents attending a rally focused on GLBT youth rights held in an urban area in Spring, 2000. Volunteers for the community organization asked adolescent and young adult rally participants whether they would be willing to fill out a short, anonymous survey on dating violence. Those who agreed completed the questionnaire

Study population

As shown in Table 1, of the 521 participants, 171 (32.8%) were male and 350 (67.2%) were female. The mean age of respondents was 17.1 years (±1.8). Of the respondents, 410 (78.7%) were white/non-Hispanic, 38 (7.3%) were Hispanic, and 67 (13%) were of other ethnicities. Overall, gay and lesbian participants had the highest mean age in years (gay/lesbian: 17.9 years; bisexual: 16.7 years; heterosexual: 16.6 years; p < .01). The mean age in years of those reporting at least one of the five types

Discussion

This study is unique in that it reports the prevalence of dating violence among GLB adolescents and additionally identifies the gender of the abuser. These initial findings suggest a substantial proportion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual adolescents have experienced abuse in a dating relationship. In addition, we found the prevalence of dating violence was similar among males and females in our sample.

Bisexual males were more than five times more likely and bisexual females more

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All authors contributed substantially to both the manuscript preparation and the design, analysis, and interpretation of data. All authors have approved the version submitted.

1

N. Freedner, S. B. Austin, L. H. Freed, and Y. W. Yang planned the data analysis and wrote the paper. Y. W. Yang, S. B. Austin, and L. H. Freed analyzed the data.

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