Directionality of Dating Violence Among High School Youth: Rates and Correlates by Gender and Sexual Orientation

Sexual minority adolescents are at greater risk for experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) in their dating relationships. Although adolescents in dating relationships often report experiencing and perpetrating various forms of TDV, the directionality of TDV based on youth’s reported gender and sexu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2022-04, Vol.37 (7-8), p.NP3954-NP3980
Main Authors: Norris, Alyssa L., López, Gabriela, Orchowski, Lindsay M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior
Adolescents
Boys
Children & youth
Crime Victims
Domestic violence
Drug use
Female
Females
Girls
Grade 10
Heterosexuality
Humans
Intimate Partner Violence
Male
Males
Marijuana
Schools
Secondary school students
Secondary schools
Sexual Behavior
Sexual orientation
Substance abuse
Victimization
Victims of Crime
Youth
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sexual minority adolescents are at greater risk for experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) in their dating relationships. Although adolescents in dating relationships often report experiencing and perpetrating various forms of TDV, the directionality of TDV based on youth’s reported gender and sexual orientation is not known. A sample of 10th-grade students (N = 1,622) recruited from high schools in the Northeastern United States completed assessments of TDV victimization and perpetration and reported their past-month heavy alcohol use and marijuana use. Sexual minority girls (58%) and boys (36%) were more likely to experience TDV than heterosexual girls (38%) and boys (25%), respectively. Sexual minority boys were less likely, although the confidence intervals included one, to engage in dual-role physical TDV (odds ratio [OR] = 0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.00, 1.26]) and threatening TDV (OR = 0.14, 95% CI [0.00, 1.02]), and instead were more likely to be victimized. In contrast, the profiles of TDV were similar for girls, with sexual minority girls only being more likely than heterosexual girls to report dual-role physical TDV (OR = 2.23, 95% CI [1.07, 4.66]). Compared with unidirectional TDV, bidirectional TDV was significantly associated with sexual minority girls’ substance use, but not with heterosexual girls’ substance use. Sexual minority youth report higher rates of TDV, with sexual minority boys being distinctly at-risk for being victimized within their dating relationships. Engagement in both TDV victimization and perpetration was distinctly associated with substance use for sexual minority girls, highlighting the need for integrated prevention efforts and support.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260520951308