Adolescent Dating Violence

Theory, Research, and Prevention

David Wolfe, Jeff R. Temple

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780128118856
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Adolescent Dating Violence: Theory, Research, and Prevention summarizes the course, risk/protective factors, consequences and treatment/prevention of adolescent dating violence. Dating violence is defined as physical, sexual, psychological, and cyber behavior meant to cause emotional, physical, or social harm to a current or former intimate partner. The book discusses research design and measurement in the field, focuses on the recent influx of longitudinal studies, and examines prevention and intervention initiatives. Divided into five sections, the book begins by reviewing theory on and consequences of dating violence. Section II discusses risk factors and protective factors such as peer influences, substance use, and past exposure to violence in the family of origin. Section III discusses how social and cultural factors can influence teen dating violence, addressing the prevalence of dating violence among different ethnicities and among LGBTQ teens, and the influence of social media. Section IV discusses recent research priorities including gender inequality, measurement, psychological abuse, and the dual nature of dating violence during adolescence. Section V reviews evidence-based practice for treatment and prevention across various age groups and settings.

• Encompasses physical, sexual, psychological and cyber violence
• Introduces theory on dating violence
• Emphasizes results from longitudinal studies and intervention initiatives
• Highlights the influence of social media and technology on dating violence
• Discusses ethnic, gender and other social and cultural differences in prevalence
• Examines evidence-based practice in treatment and prevention

Section V

Treatment and Prevention

Outline

• Chapter 16 What Works to Prevent Adolescent Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence? A Global Review of Best Practices
• Chapter 17 Preventing Sexual Violence among Adolescents and Young Adults
• Chapter 18 College-Based Dating Violence Prevention Strategies
• Chapter 19 Using Intervention Mapping to Develop “Me & You: Building Healthy Relationships,” A Healthy Relationship Intervention for Early Middle School Students
• Chapter 20 Building Capacity to Implement Teen Dating Violence Prevention: Lessons Learned From the Alaska Fourth R Initiative

Chapter 16

What Works to Prevent Adolescent Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence? A Global Review of Best Practices

Mary Ellsberg¹, Chelsea Ullman¹, Alexandra Blackwell¹, Amber Hill² and Manuel Contreras¹, ¹Global Women’s Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States, ²University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Abstract

Intimate partner and sexual violence among adolescents is common throughout the world, with devastating effects on their physical and mental health and well-being that can last a lifetime. Until recently, virtually all of the rigorously evaluated interventions to prevent adolescent intimate partner and sexual violence (IP/SV) came from high-income countries. The majority of these interventions were conducted in schools and college campuses and largely focused on reducing perpetration and victimization among both boys and girls in dating relationships. In the last decade, a growing body of evidence has emerged in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), which addresses other forms of violence against adolescents including early and forced marriage, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence, both in dating relationships as well as in marriage. This chapter reviews the evidence from both high- as well as LMIC regarding the effectiveness of interventions to address IP/SV among adolescents, including school and community-based approaches.

Keywords

Adolescents; dating violence; intimate partner violence

Background

Intimate partner and sexual violence (IP/SV) among adolescents is common throughout the world, with devastating effects on their physical and mental health and well-being that can last a lifetime. Until recently, virtually all of the rigorously evaluated interventions to prevent adolescent IP/SV came from high-income countries (Ellsberg et al., 2015; Leen, 2013; Lundgren & Amin, 2015). The majority of these interventions were conducted in schools and college campuses and largely focused on reducing perpetration and victimization among both boys and girls in dating relationships. However, in the last decade a growing body of evidence has emerged in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), which addresses other forms of violence against adolescents including early and forced marriage, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV), both in dating relationships as well as in marriage. These interventions largely focus on male violence against adolescent girls, based on the evidence that girls are more vulnerable to IP/SV in LMIC and that gender-based norms and discriminatory practices are a major driver of such violence. This paper will review the current evidence for effective interventions to address physical and sexual violence against adolescents in relationships. We utilize the term adolescent intimate partner and sexual violence (IP/SV), as it encompasses the full spectrum of partner violence that occurs during adolescence, including that which occurs within marriages.

Although boys and girls both suffer violence during childhood and adolescence, the characteristics and consequences of this violence are often different (Thompson et al., 2004). The gendered nature of violence becomes increasingly relevant and apparent during adolescence. To effectively respond to violence in adolescence, it is essential to understand the differing dynamics, consequences, and implications at play for both boys and girls. We argue that a gender perspective is crucial for understanding how structural factors such as differential access to education, resources, and rigid gender norms define the different challenges and opportunities that boys and girls face and their experiences of violence, particularly IPV.

In high-income countries, dating violence is the most common form of IPV reported among adolescents. Dating violence refers to physical or sexual violence that occurs in a relationship that is neither marriage nor a long-term dating relationship. International research, mostly collected in Europe and North America, suggests that adolescents start dating between 13 and 15 years. In the United States, 72% of adolescents 13–16 years have had dating experience, whereas in the United Kingdom 88% of adolescents 15 years or older report dating experience (Leen, 2013). Research on adolescent dating violence in these settings is seldom approached with a gender lens, resulting in the assumption that it affects girls and boys to a similar degree and in similar ways. A review of adolescent violence found a prevalence of physical adolescent dating violence between 10% and 20% of general population samples. The prevalence estimates were similar for both boys and girls, with a trend towards slightly higher male victimization (Leen, 2013). In a study of Swedish adolescents, male victimization was substantially higher (20%–59% in boys, 10%–43% in girls), particularly for the most serious abuse (Danielsson, Blom, Nilses, Heimer, & Hogberg, 2009). For sexual dating violence, the tendencies are reversed. Although great variability is found, sexual dating victimization is higher for girls than for boys (Leen, 2013; Lundgren & Amin, 2015). This is consistent with IPV data from LMIC.

In LMIC, there are few surveys that specifically look at dating violence in this age group, and many of the studies on adolescent IP/SV are not comparable. A fairly recent source of information is the Violence against Children Surveys (VACS), which have been conducted in over 11 countries to date (Sumner et al., 2015). The VACS collect information on all forms of physical and sexual violence experienced by boys and girls before the age of 18 years. These surveys typically do not disaggregate findings by age groups, so it is difficult to determine whether the violence occurred during early childhood or adolescence. Although main perpetrators of sexual violence against girls are romantic or intimate partners, the VACS do not provide a specific measure of IP/SV among adolescents.

Another important source of information is the studies that measure the prevalence of different forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including IPV. The WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women, the Domestic Violence Module of the Demographic and Health Surveys, the CDC Reproductive Health Surveys, the International Men and Gender Equality Survey, and the UN Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence all measure physical and sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner against women aged 15–49 years (Contreras et al., 2012; Devries et al., 2013; Fulu, Jewkes, Roselli, & Garcia-Moreno, 2013). It is possible to disaggregate these numbers by age groups to estimate the prevalence of IPV in the group of women aged 15–19 years. In countries where dating is uncommon, only women who have been married or lived with a male partner are asked the questions about IPV.

Due to these differing conceptions of the violence experienced by adolescents, it is difficult to compare the different estimates between high-income countries and LMIC, and between the data collected using different survey instruments. However, existing data from LMIC indicate that the prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence against boys and girls vary widely across settings. A comparative review of the VACS in 10 countries found that among 18–24 year olds, the prevalence of any form of sexual violence before the age of 18 years ranged from 4.4% among females in Cambodia to 37.6% in Swaziland, with the prevalence in most countries greater than 25%. Among boys, the range was from 5.6% in Cambodia to 21.2% in Haiti. Sexual abuse was higher among girls in all countries except Cambodia and Laos (Sumner et al., 2015). However, completed unwanted sex (pressured or forced penetrative sex acts) was several times higher among girls in all countries except Haiti and Laos. For example, in Zimbabwe, 13.5% of girls reported coerced sex compared to 1.8% of boys (Sommarin, Kilbane, Mercy, Moloney-Kitts, & Ligiero, 2014).

The perpetrators of sexual violence are also different for adolescent boys and girls. In the VACS, the main perpetrators for sexual abuse against boys were neighbors, schoolmates, and friends, whereas between 45% and 77% of sexual violence against girls was perpetrated by a romantic or intimate partner (Sommarin et al., 2014). Although these data are not disaggregated by age group, it is likely, given global patterns of sexual debut and marriage, that most of the cases of IPV occur among adolescents, rather than younger children.

The high rates of IP/SV reported by adolescent girls in the VACS are consistent with global estimates based on research on VAWG. The WHO Multi-Country Study estimates a lifetime prevalence of physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner among ever-partnered girls aged 15–19 years at about 30%. This is similar to the overall lifetime prevalence of IPV among women of reproductive age (Devries et al., 2013). This is remarkable, considering that girls have been exposed to the risk of IPV for a much shorter period. A review of data from the WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Domestic Violence in nine countries found that the 12-month prevalence of IPV among adolescent and younger women a...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Section I: Theory and Consequences
• Section II: Risk and Protective Factors
• Section III: Social and Cultural Influences
• Section IV: Research Priorities
• Section V: Treatment and Prevention
• Index