This study investigates the prevalence of adolescent intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, IPV victimization, and controlling behaviors among 486 heterosexual high school students. Participants completed surveys that measured three types of IPV victimization (sexual, physical, and psychological) and two types of controlling behaviors (intimidation and threats). Results reveal high prevalence of dating violence in youth: 46% emotional violence, 34% physical violence, and 16% sexual violence. Participants had a mean age of 15.7 years, 51% of the sample was male, and all participants were in a current relationship. Structural equation modeling explored the relationship between “violent attitudes” and “controlling behaviors” predicting IPV perpetration. The study found no gender differences between IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. However, gender differences were found regarding females’ IPV victimization being reduced when controlling behaviors are not present. Interestingly, IPV victimization is reduced by not having controlling behaviors and only having violent attitudes. The study posits that gender socialization may attribute to females reducing their IPV victimization when controlling behaviors are not present.

The study investigated the prevalence of female-to-male dating violence, mental health symptoms, and violent attitudes among 727 female high school students. Participants completed surveys asking about experiences of dating violence victimization/perpetration, mental health symptoms, and justification of violence. Correlations among female victims of dating violence revealed moderate positive associations between sexual, physical, and psychological violence, and female’s acceptance of male violence toward girls. Multiple regressions found significant predictors of negative mental health consequences, which consisted of experiencing psychological violence and justification of violence. Further analysis revealed that female participants who experienced three types of dating violence (physical, sexual, and psychological) were significantly more likely to perpetrate three types of dating violence (physical, psychological, and sexual). These findings suggest that among teenage girls justification of violence and experiencing dating violence are significant predictors of future negative mental health and violence perpetration.

Grassroots movements during the 1970s established several types of emergency services for battered women seeking to find refuge from or leave an abusive relationship. As time went by, the range of services offered by these agencies grew to include counseling, legal services, outreach, and other services, and battered women can now access over 2,000 domestic violence (DV) agencies throughout the United States for assistance. At the same time, these services have come under increasing scrutiny for their inability or unwillingness to provide their existing services to some populations of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims. In this article, we focus on DV agencies’ ability to provide their services to various populations that have documented evidence of being underserved due to their age, gender, and/or sexual orientation. We present information on the percentage of agencies that report being able to provide victim-related services to each of these groups. We also consider various regional, state, and agency characteristics that may predict the availability of services to these underserved groups. Overall, agencies report that adolescents and men are the least likely groups to which they are able to provide their victim services. Results are discussed utilizing a human rights perspective that stresses that all IPV victims, regardless of age, sexual orientation, or gender, should have access to services provided by DV agencies.

This study followed 125 7th-grade students in Taiwan for the entire school year and analyzed the individual and social network factors predicting their involvement in physical bullying over 5 waves of data. Using self-reports of bullying experiences, 20 classroom-level networks of bullying and friendship were constructed for 4 classrooms and 5 temporal points, from which 4 individual-level network measures were calculated. They included bully and victim centrality, popularity, and embeddedness in friendship networks. A series of mixed models for repeated measures were constructed to predict students’ bully and victim centrality in bullying network at time t + 1. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to be both the bullies and victims. Lower self-esteem and higher family economic status contributed to victim centrality. Having parents married and living together predicted lower bully centrality. Higher educational level of parents predicted lower victim and bully centrality. Regarding the social network factors, students’ bully centrality at t positively predicted their bully centrality at t + 1, whereas victim centrality predicted their subsequent victim centrality. Interaction effects between friendship network and bullying network were observed. Embeddedness in friendship network reduced victim centrality at t + 1 except for those students with low victim centrality at t. For those with high victim centrality at t, popularity increased their risk of physical victimization over time. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between multiple types of victimization experiences, psychological and social resources, and co-occurring mental health problems among substance-using adolescents. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from a multisite research project in which adolescents ages 11–18 years participated in a comprehensive screening program for substance misuse. Multiple types of victimization, low self-efficacy beliefs, lack of support for victimization issues, and available sources of emotional support were positively related to co-occurring mental health problems. These findings suggest that treatment planning and interventions may focus on helping adolescents cope effectively with their victimization experiences and addressing their mental health needs. Particular emphasis may be placed on enhancing self-efficacy and social skills so that adolescents may benefit from their available sources of social support.

Little is known about the role social support may play in reducing the risk of adolescent dating violence perpetration and victimization. This study is a longitudinal analysis of the independent impact of social support from friends and parents on the risk of emotional and physical dating violence perpetration and victimization among a large sample of female youth (n = 346). Findings indicate that 22% of the sample indicated perpetrating physical dating violence against a partner, whereas almost 16% revealed being the victim of physical dating violence; 34% of the sample indicated perpetrating emotional dating violence against a partner, whereas almost 39% revealed being the victim of emotional dating violence. Negative binomial regression models indicated that increased levels of support from friends at Time 1 was associated with significantly less physical and emotional dating violence perpetration and emotional (but not physical) dating violence victimization at Time 2. Parental support was not significantly related to dating violence in any model. Implications for dating violence curriculum and future research are addressed.

The purpose of this study that focused on African American high school girls was threefold. First, the relationship of sports participation and victimization was explored. Second, the impact of sports participation on self-esteem was assessed. Third, the role of self-esteem and its disaggregated components (social acceptance, competence, and self-confidence) as mediators of the relationship between sports participation and victimization was examined. In accordance with the sport protection hypothesis, it was hypothesized that sports participation would be related to enhanced self-esteem and reduce victimization. Results suggest that sports participation appears to have some relationship to lower rates of victimization. There was also support for our assertion that sports participation was related to enhanced self-esteem. Finally, overall self-esteem and, specifically, the individual component competence mediated the relationship between sports participation and victimization.