| Summary: | Much of the research on teen dating violence has attempted to take the ideas associated
with adult domestic violence and intimate partner violence and apply it to teen relationships.
This research was conducted to discover the underlying dimensions of teen relationships and the
violence that exists in these relationships in order to provide a conceptual idea of who should be
targeted, with what information, and at what age with prevention efforts aimed at reducing teen
dating violence. Wichita Kansas has implemented a variety of prevention and intervention
strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of teen dating violence in the community for almost a
decade. Participants in this study were recruited from 6th through 10th graders who were
scheduled to receive intervention curriculum in their schools. Several items from the General
Youth Relationship Survey-Student Version (Hertzog, Matson, & Rowley) were analyzed using
factor analysis to discover the underlying dimensions of teen dating violence.
Physical/emotional abuse, monitoring and controlling behaviors, and relational entitlements were
the key dimensions gleaned from this analysis. An examination of the factor score means with
several student characteristics were also analyzed. Girls were found to witness more teen dating
violence in their friend’s relationships as well as hold more agreement with relational
entitlements than boys. African American teens were more likely to report witnessing teen
dating violence than Hispanic or white teens; however, Hispanic teens were more likely to report
that a person has certain relational entitlements over their partner. This study also found that, in
order to provide actual prevention, efforts should be targeted towards late elementary to early
middle school-aged students. === Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology
|
|---|
