The Dynamic Context of Teen Dating Violence Within Adolescent Relationships

Reducing teen dating violence (TDV) is critical. Existing interventions fall short because they fail to consider the dynamic context of adolescent TDV relationships. Granular information about precisely why and when incidents of TDV occur is critical to design interventions and policies that will stop the violence. Adolescent females engaged in a dating relationship with TDV will be enrolled in this longitudinal cohort study and followed for 6 months. This innovative three-year study will collect data from 125 adolescent females using a baseline Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) assessment and daily diaries using Smart Phones. Participants will report daily on TDV victimization and perpetration as well as relational context (feelings of intimacy, jealousy, and instrumental support) and situational context (use of alcohol or drugs). Objectives include determining: the type(s) and frequency of TDV victimization and perpetration within adolescent relationships; the daily associations between relational context measures and reports of TDV victimization and perpetration; and the daily associations between situational context measures and reports of TDV victimization and perpetration. Participants will be recruited from a health clinic and community venues in Baltimore identified in the research team's previous studies as locations where adolescent females congregate. Females, 15-19 years who disclose at screening past month TDV in a heterosexual dating relationship, will be recruited for the study. Eligible females with informed consent will complete the baseline ACASI survey including socio-demographic and background questions about the participant and her partner(s). Participants will complete six months of diaries continuously on their relationship by responding to daily text-based questions on their Smart Phone about TDV victimization and perpetration, intimacy, instrumental support, jealousy, and their own and their partners' alcohol and drug use. Daily data will be transmitted directly to an encrypted, password protected, secure database. Random effects mixed models will be used to examine the multilevel data. As the temporal associations may differ for victimization, perpetration and mutual aggression, the investigators will model these outcomes separately for each of the three objectives.ca/ncf