Prevalence and Correlates of Dating Violence in a National Sample of Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 223593
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 47 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 755-762
• Author(s): Kate B. Wolitzky-Taylor M.A.; Kenneth J. Ruggiero Ph.D.; Carla Kmett Danielson Ph.D.; Heidi S. Resnick Ph.D.; Rochelle F. Hanson Ph.D.; Daniel W. Smith Ph.D.; Benjamin E. Saunders Ph.D.; Dean G. Kilpatrick Ph.D.
• Date Published: July 2008
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1R01 HD046830-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the population prevalence of serious forms of dating violence in adolescence.

Abstract

Results of the study indicate that older age, female sex, and exposure to previous and recent life stressors were associated with greater risk for experiencing dating violence. In addition, dating violence was significantly associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a major depressive episode (MDE) after controlling for significant relevant variables. These findings support and significantly extend the existing research base on dating violence, while assisting in clarifying the role of age, sex, and race/ethnicity in dating violence. It also illustrates the potential impact of dating violence on PTSD and MDE in adolescence. Serious dating violence, defined as physical and/or sexual assault in the context of a dating relationship, has long been considered an important but under-researched public health problem. Using a large, national sample of adolescents ages 12 to 17, this study estimated the prevalence of dating violence in the United States population of adolescents, identified risk factors for dating violence, and assessed whether experiencing dating violence was associated with PTSD and MDE after controlling for key demographic and other relevant variables. 33 references