National Institute of Justice Teen Dating Violence Measurement Meeting Summary, May 5-6, 2015

• NCJ Number: 249015
• Date Published: May 2015
• Length: 26 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Presentation; Legislation/Policy Analysis; Conference Material

Annotation

This report summarizes the proceedings of a meeting arranged by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to discuss what NIJ might do to assist in improving the measurement of dating violence among adolescents.

Abstract

NIJ set four stated goals for the meeting. First, identify the limitations of current measures of adolescent relationship abuse and discuss why the answer is dependent on the purpose of the measurement. Second, highlight emerging research and innovations in measuring adolescent relationship abuse. Third, determine ways that the Teen Dating Violence (TDV) Concept Mapping Project can be used to improve measurement. Fourth develop a set of recommendations regarding the research that is needed to improve the measurement of adolescent relationship abuse. The format for the meeting involved planned presentations on subjects related to these four goals, followed by group discussions. The product of the meeting was consensus recommendations on next steps in developing an improved strategy for measuring teen dating violence. At the conclusion of the meeting, an NIJ representative listed a few steps that NIJ likely will take to further the effort to improve the measurement of teen dating violence. These include funding for research on measurement, creation of a consortium to bring researchers together on a measurement-related topic, and requiring applicants for research on teen dating violence to justify the measure they use.