Validation of the Moral Disengagement for Adolescent Dating Violence Prevention Scale With Teacher Trainees

Once in the workforce, teachers are often asked to participate in school-based adolescent dating violence prevention efforts. However, our understanding of how willing and able future teachers are to engage in dating violence prevention is limited. This may be due, in part, to the lack of available measurement tools. Understanding willingness before teachers are in the classroom is key to exploring how to help future teachers be more ready and able to engage in prevention efforts once they are in the classroom. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to develop and test a measure that assesses one aspect of teacher trainees’ willingness to engage in dating violence prevention efforts: moral disengagement. Using two independent samples of teacher trainees ( N = 400; 64.5% White, 75.0% female, 84.5% heterosexual), we explored the factor structure of the Moral Disengagement for Adolescent Dating Violence Prevention (MD-ADVP) scale. We conducted exploratory factor analysis (Sample 1, n = 222) and confirmatory factor analysis (Sample 2, n = 178), and also examined the factor structure across sub-groups and assessed internal consistency reliability and construct validity evidence. Analyses suggest the MD-ADVP is unidimensional, and that this factor structure holds across sub-groups. We found strong evidence of both reliability and construct (convergent and divergent) validity. As hypothesized, scores on the MD-ADVP demonstrated significant negative bivariate associations with scores on three measures of adolescent dating violence prevention-related beliefs, and no association with scores on a measure of weight bias. The MD-ADVP will advance research investigating teacher preparation for adolescent dating violence prevention efforts. For example, use of the MD-ADVP can illuminate whether teacher trainees’ moral disengagement is an indicator of future implementation success. Further testing of this measure in racially and gender diverse samples is needed.

Sex as Boys’ Fame, But Girls’ Shame: Adversarial Adolescent Gender Roles and Gender-based Violence in Guyana

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a significant issue for youth in Guyana, particularly among young women. Yet, discussions about sex, dating, and violence rarely occur at the community level. To understand the heightened risk for GBV with youth in Guyana, we utilized a critical qualitative design to explore adolescent dating violence with adolescents (14–16 years old), parents, and school officials in a public secondary school in Guyana. In total, 36 racially and religiously diverse participants from low to middle-income households participated in focus groups ( n = 30) and interviews ( n = 6). Discussions centered on dating in adolescence; community awareness of dating violence; gender, racialization, and class in relation to dating violence; and dating violence prevention in schools and family settings. Our results revealed that heteronormative, adversarial gender roles in Guyana are enacted in adolescent relationships in ways that contribute to violence. Two important factors emerged in relation to femininity: female respectability related to sexuality; and the relationship between clothing, sexuality, and social class. Masculinity for adolescent boys was centered on reproducing normative assumptions about femininity and explaining the use of violence through pathologizing race. Participants were also asked to identify gender roles that adolescent boys and girls should embody in relationships, which revealed possibilities for overcoming adversarial roles in relationships. We propose that adolescent GBV prevention initiatives consider long-standing and deeply embedded ideas within gender norms that are connected to sexuality, class, and race. Without accounting for these systemic factors, GBV prevention initiatives and programs may inadvertently perpetuate traditional definitions of masculinity and femininity that contribute to violence.

Assessing Adolescent Dating Violence in the YourLife Project: Proposal of an Instrument for Spanish-Speaking Countries

Background: Several instruments have been developed to assess adolescent dating violence but only few have been validated in Spanish-speaking settings. Some instruments are too long and may not be feasible to include them in a multipurpose questionnaire. We developed an instrument to be used in the YourLife project, an international project about young people lifestyles. Objective: We aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of this instrument in three Spanish-speaking countries (Chile, Ecuador, and Spain). Method: We included 1049 participants, aged 13–18 years. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Associations between dating violence and variables expected to covariate with it (substance use, school peer aggression, justification of dating violence, and relationship power imbalance), were tested. Results: Two different constructs (psychological and physical/sexual) for suffered and perpetrated violence were identified and confirmed in the three countries. The dating violence subscales had Cronbach’s alpha scores higher than 0.85. The strongest associations between dating violence and variables related to it were found within the relationship power imbalance items, suggesting that these items may be useful to detect adolescent dating violence when a specific questionnaire cannot be implemented. Conclusion: This instrument seems to be adequate to assess suffered and perpetrated adolescent dating violence within a multipurpose questionnaire among schooled adolescents.

Adolescent Dating Violence: Results of a Mixed Study in Quito, Ecuador

Dating violence is a public health problem affecting people worldwide. This study evaluated the occurrence of different types of adolescent dating violence using a mixed analysis of each data source. The present study addresses the following research questions: does the occurrence of the types of violence analyzed in the quantitative phase match with the narratives obtained in the qualitative phase? and does the additional information obtained in the qualitative phase improve the understanding of the analyzed phenomenon? In the quantitative phase, 410 participants (aged 13 to 19 years) answered a questionnaire based on the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale, while in the qualitative phase, 26 participated in two focus groups. Data were collected from May to June 2019. Written informed consent was obtained from the parents or legal guardians of those who had agreed to participate. The present research was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. The results were divided on: prevalence of dating violence based on age groups and gender, management and resolution of dating conflicts, victimization and perpetration of intimate partner violence, factors favoring intimate partner violence and acceptance of abuse. The results were analyzed via triangulation and indicated that adolescents were involved in the perpetration and victimization of psychological as well as mild and severe physical violence. An analysis of the contributing factors revealed a strong tendency toward the acceptance of the traditional gender model. Challenging these models is crucial to deconstruct hierarchical models, develop conflict resolution skills, and promptly identify abusive behaviors that affect emotional development. The combination of different methodological approaches improved the understanding of the phenomenon studied.

Dating Aggression among Court-Involved Adolescents: Prevalence, Offense Type, and Gender

Adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system face a variety of risk factors that are associated with more frequent and severe experiences of aggression within romantic relationships as compared to community samples. The current study examines the nature and characteristics of adolescent dating violence (ADV) among first-time offense court-involved non-incarcerated (CINI) adolescents. A sample of 199 male and female CINI adolescents (58% male; M age = 15.05) who had a first-time, open status (e.g., truancy, curfew violation) and/or delinquent petition (e.g., assault, breaking, and entering). Overall, CINI adolescents reported prevalence rates of ADV consistent with community samples of adolescents. Females reported higher perpetration than did males in the sample of physical abuse and social networking abuse, as well as higher victimization of social networking abuse. Only one difference was found by offense type. CINI females report an increased risk for dating violence, though the cause of these gender differences is unclear. Findings also highlight that risk for ADV does not differ by offense type, suggesting that prevention efforts targeting ADV at the earliest possible intervention point, regardless of first-time offense type or severity, may be especially impactful.

Disparities in Adolescent Dating Violence and Associated Internalizing and Externalizing Mental Health Symptoms by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation

The current study examined the prevalence and mental health associated with physical and sexual dating violence among adolescents using an intersectional analysis. Data were obtained from 88,219 adolescents in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. Gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and experiences with teen dating violence were measured for each youth. Tested two- and three-way interactions demonstrate varied outcomes by social identification and emphasize the need for an intersectional approach in dating violence research. Adolescent dating violence was most prevalent among girls (10% physical, 13% sexual); adolescents were sracially identified as Native North American (13% physical, 10% sexual), Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (12% physical, 14% sexual), or multiracial (11% physical, 12% sexual), and lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning their sexual orientation (LGBQ) adolescents (19% physical, 20% sexual). The intersectional groups with the highest rates of physical and sexual dating violence included Latinx GBQ boys (26% physical, 26% sexual) and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander GBQ boys (29% physical, 32% sexual). Among girls, highest rates were observed among Hawaiian/Pacific Islander LBQ (24% physical, 23% sexual). Externalizing symptoms associated with physical dating violence were most robust for risky sexual behavior (OR = 4.0), followed by physical fighting (OR = 3.0), and weapon carrying (OR = 2.5); they were also associated with sexual dating violence (ORs = 1.9-2.2). Internalizing symptoms were comparably associated with both types of dating violence (ORs = 2.6-2.9 physical and ORs = 2.4-2.8 sexual). Findings suggest first that an intersectional approach is especially informative in teen dating violence prevention and intervention and second that teen dating violence interventions and prevention programming should use a trauma-informed, gender-responsive, culturally sensitive, and LGBQ inclusive approach.

“Then Who Are You?”: Young American Indian and Alaska Native Women Navigating Cultural Connectedness in Dating and Relationships

Despite disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women and associations between adolescent dating violence and partner violence in adulthood, little to no research has focused on dating and relationships among AI/AN adolescents. Using exploratory thematic analysis with focus group data (N = 16), we explore this topic among a sample of young AI/AN women (ages 15–17). Results suggest that dating may enhance or inhibit connections to culture or tribal identity. Moreover, responsibility for sustaining cultural knowledge, practices, and lineage may influence choices of reproductive partners for Native women living within colonial structures of governance. The greatest threat in relationships were similar to those from settler colonialism—loss of culture and consequently, self. Promoting healthy relationships among this population should include cultural safety, identity, and involvement, as well as a focus on broader systems, including enrollment policies, that may influence these relationships. Supportive networks and mentorship related to identity and cultural involvement should be available for young AI/AN women. In response to this Special Issue’s call for work that offers creative approaches to conveying knowledge and disruptions to what are considered acceptable narrative approaches we offer illustrations as well as text.