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Dating Violence and Substance Use as Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behavior

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Abstract

The objectives of this study is to examine dating violence perpetration and victimization (physical, psychological, and sexual) and lifetime substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs) as longitudinal predictors of adolescents’ risky sexual behavior across 1 year and to determine whether predictors varied across adolescents’ gender and ethnicity. A sample of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic male and female adolescents from seven public high schools in Texas (N = 882) participated. Adolescents completed self-report measures of dating violence, lifetime substance use, and risky sexual behavior at baseline and, 1-year later, completed a second assessment of their risky sexual behavior. Path analysis demonstrated that greater physical dating violence victimization, lifetime alcohol use, lifetime marijuana use, and age (being older) were all significant predictors of risky sexual behavior at the 1-year follow-up. These results did not vary across gender or the three ethnic groups (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic). Overall, substance use was a longitudinal predictor of risky sexual behavior across the three ethnic groups, with physical dating violence victimization being the only type of dating violence longitudinally predicting risky sexual behavior. Prevention efforts should consider the roles of physical dating violence and substance use in preventing risky sexual behavior.

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Acknowledgments

The current manuscript was supported, in part, by grants F31AA020131 and K24AA019707 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) awarded to Dr. Shorey and Dr. Stuart, respectively. In addition, this manuscript was supported by grant award K23HD059916 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) and award 2012-WG-BX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded to DR. Temple. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or NIJ.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 239 Porter Hall, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

    Ryan C. Shorey

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Paula J. Fite

  3. Department of Ob/Gyn, UTMB Health, Galveston, TX, USA

    HyeJeong Choi & Jeff R. Temple

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Joseph R. Cohen

  5. Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Gregory L. Stuart

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  1. Ryan C. Shorey
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  2. Paula J. Fite
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  4. Joseph R. Cohen
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  5. Gregory L. Stuart
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  6. Jeff R. Temple
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan C. Shorey.

Additional information

Shorey holds a PhD, Ohio University.

Fite holds a PhD, University of Kansas.

Choi holds a PhD, UTMB Health.

Cohen holds a PhD, Medical University of South Carolina.

Stuart holds a PhD, University of Tennessee.

Temple holds a PhD, UTMB Health.

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Shorey, R.C., Fite, P.J., Choi, H. et al. Dating Violence and Substance Use as Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behavior. Prev Sci 16, 853–861 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-015-0556-9

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