Exploring predictors of dating violence victimization among adolescents

Abstract

This study explores factors that are predictive of dating violence victimization among 4,490 adolescents aged 11-17 years with public-use data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Individual-level factors included self-esteem, depressive symptoms, high-risk alcohol use, and marijuana use. Mesosystem factors included parental monitoring and religiosity. A logistic regression analysis controlled for sex, age, race, and sexual attraction. Results showed that higher levels of depressive symptoms and substance use were associated with an increased likelihood of victimization, whereas self-esteem was not significant. Higher levels of parental monitoring and religiosity were associated with a decreased likelihood of dating violence victimization, suggesting these may have a protective influence. These results have practical implications for violence prevention strategies with policy recommendations put forth to adapt existing healthy relationship education curricula to specific subgroups that may be at an increased risk for victimization.