By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album

Reviewed by Suzanna Smith, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida

This post is part of a series recognizing Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Learn more and spread awareness at Teen DV Month.

Romantic love and dating are fun and important parts of the life of teenagers. While those first few dates may make parents a bit (or maybe very!) nervous, it’s normal and healthy for older teens to begin having relationships.

Unfortunately, some of these young people also experience teen dating violence, or TDV. This is a serious problem, with potential long-term consequences for teens.

A recent study suggests that a teen’s risk of TDV may be dramatically higher if he or she has also been abused in other ways. A nationally representative sample of over 1400 teens from diverse backgrounds was surveyed about their experiences with teen dating violence and other forms of victimization, such as rape, bullying, gang violence, or abuse by a parent.

While about 6% of teens overall reported TDV, rates among teens who had experienced other kinds of abuse and violence were drastically higher—in some cases, as high as 50%. Importantly, most of these offenses took place separately from the dating violence, and at the hands of different people.

While researchers aren’t yet entirely clear as to why teens with other abuse histories have such a high risk of experiencing these issues in a romantic relationship, it could be due to lack of supervision, a dangerous home or neighborhood environment, or long-term patterns of abuse.

Being aware of the strong relationship between teen dating violence and other forms of victimization is definitely important for adults who spend time with or often come into contact with teens.

However, it’s also crucial to educate all young people about how to recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships. Together, we can work to give young people the self-confidence and positive conflict resolution skills they need to build healthy romantic partnerships. To learn more, and to share awareness throughout the month, visit Love is Respect, Break the Cycle, and Teen DV Month.

(Photo credit: 137/365 by martinaK15. CC License.)

Reference:

Hamby, S., Finkelhor, D., & Turner, H. (2012). Teen dating violence: co-occurrence with other victimizations in the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). Psychology of Violence. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/a0027191

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