NCJ Number
209396
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 33-49
Date Published
January 2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This exploratory study compared dating violent (DV) and non-dating violent (NDV) high-risk adolescents on several dating violence and delinquency variables.
Abstract
Dating violence among adolescents is a serious social problem because of the immediate and long-term deleterious outcomes. Despite the seriousness of the problem, there is little research examining dating violence among high-risk adolescents. The current study compared DV and NDV high-risk adolescents across three domains: behavior problems (violence and substance abuse), psychological adjustment (depression, stress, and internalizing and externalizing tendencies), and received parenting. Participants were 89 adolescents between the ages of 14 to 18 years who were attending a high school dropout prevention program. Participants completed a series of questionnaires probing the three domains under investigation. Results of ANOVA and logistic regression analyses indicated that the DV males reported higher levels of violence against past partners, more marijuana use during the past year, earlier onset of other drug use, and higher levels of externalization. DV females reported higher levels of internalization and less parental involvement, supervision, and behavioral control. While the findings showed significant differences between DV and NDV adolescents, the study was exploratory and future research should focus on larger samples of high-risk adolescents using a prospective design with more attention to collecting data on the context of the dating violence. Tables, notes, references