Dating Abuse Fact Sheet

Choose Respect Physical dating violence among high school students — United States, 2003

Dating abuse is defined as the physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship. Each year, 1 in 11 adolescents reports being a victim of physical dating abuse (CDC 2006). Many of these cases can be prevented by helping adolescents develop skills for healthy relationships with others (Foshee et al. 2005).


Dating Abuse Statistics
Adolescents and adults are often unaware how regularly dating abuse occurs.

• 1 in 11 adolescents reports being a victim of physical dating abuse (CDC 2006).

• 1 in 4 adolescents reports verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse each year (Foshee et al. 1996; Avery-Leaf et al. 1997).

• 1 in 5 adolescents reports being a victim of emotional abuse (Halpern et al. 2001).

• 1 in 5 high school girls has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner (Silverman et al. 2001).

• Dating abuse occurs more frequently among black students (13.9%) than among Hispanic (9.3%) or white (7.0%) students (CDC 2006).

• 72% of eighth and ninth graders reportedly “date” (Foshee et al. 1996); by the time they are in high school, 54% of students report dating abuse among their peers (Jafe et al. 1992).
   

Adolescents in Abusive Relationship Are at Risk for Health Problems
Adolescents and adults often don’t make the link between dating abuse and poor health.

• 70% of girls and 52% of boys who are abused report an injury from an abusive relationship. (Foshee 1996).

• 8% of boys and 9% of girls have been to an emergency room for an injury received from a dating partner(Foshee 1996).

• Victims of dating abuse are not only at increased risk for injury, they are also more likely to engage in binge drinking, suicide attempts, physical fights, and currently sexual activity (CDC 2006).

• Rates of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use are more than twice as high in girls who report physical or sexual dating abuse than in girls who report no abuse (Plichta 1996).

• Dating abuse is associated with unhealthy sexual behaviors that can lead to unintended pregnancy, sexually-transmitted diseases, and HIV infections (Silverman et al. 2001).

• Abusive dating experiences during adolescence may disrupt normal development of self-esteem and body image (Ackard and Neumark-Sztainer 2002).

• Adolescents in abusive relationships often carry these unhealthy patterns of abuse into future relationships (Smith et al. 2003).
   

Choosing Respect: Developing Healthy Relationships to Prevent Dating Abuse
Dating abuse can be prevented. Adolescence has been characterized as a "window of opportunity” - a time for adolescents to prepare for future relationships by learning healthy relationship skills such as negation, compromise, and conflict resolution (Wolfe and Wekerle 1997). That’s why adults need to talk to adolescents now about the importance of choosing respect and developing healthy relationships.

• Several studies suggest that adolescents do not see the negative consequences of dating abuse and violence in their friends’ lives (Hotaling and Sugarman 1986). 31% of adolescents report having at least one friend who is in a violent relationship (Arriaga and Foshee 2004).

• Acceptance of dating abuse among friends is one of the strongest links to future involvement in dating abuse (Bergman 1992; Arriaga and Foshee 2004).

• Adolescents often believe that unhealthy relationships are the norm. Many relationships seen on TV, in the movies, and in magazines are unrealistic or unhealthy examples of relationships.

• Qualities like respect, good communication and honesty are absolute requirements for a healthy relationship. Adolescents that do not have this part down before they begin to date may have trouble forming healthy, nonviolent relationships with others (Wekerle and Wolfe 1999; Feiring and Furman 2000).

• Choose Respect is a nationwide effort to prevent dating abuse before it starts. It encourages adolescents to form healthy relationships with others – before they even start to date.
  
   

References


Ackard DM, Neumark-Sztainer D. Date violence and date rape among adolescents: associations with disordered eating behaviors and psychological health. Child Abuse and Neglect 2002;26:455–73.

Arriaga XB, Foshee VA. Adolescent dating violence. Do adolescents follow in their friends’ or their parents’ footsteps? Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2004;19(2):162–84.

Avery-Leaf S, Cascardi M, O’Leary KD, Cano A. Efficacy of a dating violence prevention program on attitudes justifying aggression. Journal of Adolescent Health 1997;21:11–7.

Bergman, L. Dating violence among high school students. Social Work 1992;37:21–7.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physical dating violence among high school students — United States, 2003. MMWR 2006; 55:532-535.

Feiring C, Furman WC. When love is just a four-letter word: victimization and romantic relationships in adolescence. Child Maltreatment 2000;5(4):293–8.

Foshee VA, Bauman KE, Ennett ST, Suchindran C, Benefield T, Linder FG. Assessing the effects of the dating violence prevention program “Safe Dates” using random coefficient regression modeling. Prevention Science 2005;6(3):245–58.

Foshee VA, Linder GF, Bauman KE, et al. The Safe Dates Project: theoretical basis, evaluation design, and selected baseline findings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1996;12(2):39–47.

Halpern CT, Oslak SG, Young ML, Martin SL, Kupper LL. Partner violence among adolescents in opposite-sex romantic relationships: findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. American Journal of Public Health 2001;91(10):1679–85.

Hotaling GT, Sugarman DB. An analysis of risk markers in husband to wife violence: the current state of knowledge. Violence and Victims 1986;1(2):101–24.

Jaffe P, Sudermann M, Reitzel D, Killip S. An evaluation of a secondary school primary prevention program on violence in intimate relationships. Violence and Victims 1992;7:129–46.

Plichta SB. Violence and abuse: implications for women’s health. In: Falik MM, Collins KS, editors. Women’s health: the commonwealth survey. Baltimore (MD): Johns Hopkins University Press; 1996.

Silverman JG, Raj A, Mucci L, Hathaway J. Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidality. Journal American Medical Association 2001;286(5):572–9.

Smith PH, White JW, Holland LJ. A longitudinal perspective on dating violence among adolescent and college-age women. American Journal of Public Health 2003;93(7):1104–9.

Wekerle C, Wolfe DA. Dating violence in mid-adolescence: theory, significance, and emerging prevention initiatives. Clinical Psychological Review 1999;19:435–56.

Wolfe DA, Wekerle C, Scott K. Alternatives to violence: empowering youth to develop health relationships. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage; 1997.