Childhood Predictors of Teen Dating Violence Victimization

Most research on predictors of teen dating violence (TDV) has used cross-sectional data, which weakens predictive modeling and hypothesis testing analyses. This study uses prospective and retrospective longitudinal data on a community sample to examine previously identified predictors of TDV victimization and pathways from childhood risk and protection to TDV victimization. Data are from 941 participants in the Raising Healthy Children project. For girls, a multivariate path model indicated that higher levels of bonding to parents and social skills protected against TDV victimizations, partly by reducing early adolescent alcohol use. For boys, there was an indirect path from childhood bonding to parents to TDV victimization through early adolescent externalizing behavior.