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Individual and Family Predictors of the Perpetration of Dating Violence and Victimization in Late Adolescence

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Abstract

Teen dating violence is a crime of national concern with approximately one-fourth of adolescents reporting victimization of physical, psychological, or sexual dating violence each year. The present study examined how aggressive family dynamics in both childhood and early adolescence predicted the perpetration of dating violence and victimization in late adolescence. Children (n = 401, 43 % female) were followed from kindergarten entry to the age of 18 years. Early adolescent aggressive-oppositional problems at home and aggressive-oppositional problems at school each made unique predictions to the emergence of dating violence in late adolescence. The results suggest that aggressive family dynamics during childhood and early adolescence influence the development of dating violence primarily by fostering a child’s oppositional-aggressive responding style initially in the home, which is then generalized to other contexts. Although this study is limited by weaknesses detailed in the discussion, the contribution of longitudinal evidence including parent, teacher, and adolescent reports from both boys and girls, a dual-emphasis on the prediction of perpetration and victimization, as well as an analysis of both relations between variables and person-oriented group comparisons combine to make a unique contribution to the growing literature on adolescent partner violence.

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Notes

  1. The vast majority of individuals who endorse dating violence perpetration are also experiencing dating violence victimization (Swinford et al. 2000; Hickman et al. 2004). Hence, the predictors of dating violence perpetration used in many studies reviewed here probably reflect factors related to membership in a physically conflictual relationship, rather than unilateral aggression (Andrews et al. 2000; Ehrensaft et al. 2003; Foshee et al. 2005; Gorman-Smith et al. 2001; Magdol et al. 1998; Ozer et al. 2004).

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the help of Dr. Robert Nix, the Fast Track team, and the Fast Track families.

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  1. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Kerry Makin-Byrd & Karen L. Bierman

  2. Family Translational Research Group, Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care, New York University, 345 East 24th Street, 2S-Library, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Kerry Makin-Byrd

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  1. Kerry Makin-Byrd
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Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group

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Correspondence to Kerry Makin-Byrd.

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Members of the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group are, in alphabetical order, Karen L. Bierman (Pennsylvania State University), John D. Coie (Duke University), Kenneth A. Dodge (Duke University), Mark Greenberg (Pennsylvania State University), John E. Lochman (University of Alabama), Robert J. McMahon (Simon Fraser University and Child & Family Research Institute), and Ellen E. Pinderhughes (Tufts University).

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Makin-Byrd, K., Bierman, K.L. & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. Individual and Family Predictors of the Perpetration of Dating Violence and Victimization in Late Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 42, 536–550 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9810-7

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