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Patterns of Change in Adolescent Dating Victimization and Aggression During Middle School

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Abstract

Although mounting evidence suggests dating victimization and aggression begin in early adolescence, little work has examined the pattern of these behaviors across this age. This longitudinal study examined trajectories of dating victimization and aggression across middle school using 12 waves of data. A sample of early adolescents (N = 1369, 52.3% girls; 83% African American; 15% Hispanic or Latino) residing in an urban, economically disadvantaged area participated in this study. Youth completed measures of dating victimization and aggression quarterly across the 3 years of middle school. Although results indicated a general trend of increasing dating victimization and aggression across middle school, variation existed for boys and girls. Specifically, girls showed increasing patterns of both, whereas boys remained relatively stable across time. Dating victimization and aggression were also highly correlated across time. These findings support the implementation and refinement of prevention programming aimed at preventing and reducing dating aggression and victimization in middle school.

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Acknowledgements

Portions of this article were presented at the 2017 Society for Prevention Research annual conference held in Washington, D.C.

Funding

This project was supported by Award No. 2012-IJ-CX-0014, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice and cooperative agreement 1U01CE001956 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice or of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Authors’ Contributions

E.G. conceived of and designed the study, conducted analyses, interpreted the data, and coordinated and drafted the manuscript. A.F. participated in the design of the study, provided statistical consulting, and helped draft and edit the manuscript. T.S. helped draft and edit the manuscript and participated in the design of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA

    Elizabeth A. Goncy

  2. Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA

    Albert D. Farrell & Terri N. Sullivan

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  1. Elizabeth A. Goncy
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  2. Albert D. Farrell
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  3. Terri N. Sullivan
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Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Goncy.

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The Virginia Commonwealth University Institutional Review Board approved this study. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Goncy, E.A., Farrell, A.D. & Sullivan, T.N. Patterns of Change in Adolescent Dating Victimization and Aggression During Middle School. J Youth Adolescence 47, 501–514 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0715-3

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