The ‘Real World’ of Dating Violence in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Portrait

In this seminar, Dr. Peggy Giordano of Bowling Green State University presents preliminary findings from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), a thirteen-year longitudinal study examining the lives of young people transitioning into adulthood. In this study, Dr. Giordano led a team of researchers who performed five waves of structured in-home surveys paired with in-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of respondents who had experienced violence within the context of their dating relationships. The team found that there are numerous processes within early relationships that increase the risk of teen dating violence occurring, and a window on change—that is, factors associated with ‘desistance’ from this destructive pattern of behavior. Further, they found that when compared to adults, teens typically exhibit fewer gender-related differences in their patterns of violence; and the issues that trigger teen violence revolve more around anger than around control. A 30-minute Q&A period will follow.