Dating Violence Among College Students In Usa

Additionally, in a study examining dating violence among a sample of college students, Wolford-Clevenger et al. (2016) reported that psychological aggression was associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation among women and physical violence was associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation among men. Teen dating violence — also called intimate relationship violence or intimate partner violence among adolescents or adolescent relationship abuse — includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse; harassment; or stalking of any person ages 12 to 18 in the context of a past or present romantic or consensual relationship. Building off a long history of research in the area of intimate.

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Estimates of teen dating violence prevalence vary widely, because studies define and measure violence differently over different periods of time for different populations. On this page, find estimates on prevalence from:

Nationally Representative Surveys

Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative annual survey of youth in grades 9 to 12, found that, of those students who dated someone in the last 12 months, approximately one in 10 reported being a victim of physical violence from a romantic partner during that year.[1]

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, analyzing a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7 to 12 who were then followed over time, showed that approximately 30 percent of people ages 12 to 21 in heterosexual relationships reported experiencing psychological abuse in the past 18 months; 20 percent of youth in same-sex relationships reported experiencing the same type of abuse.[2][3]

About 10 percent of students in the Youth Risk Behavior Study who had dated someone in the last 12 months reported that they had been kissed, touched or physically forced to have sexual intercourse against their will by a dating partner during that year.[4]

To date, there are no nationally representative data on perpetration of dating violence.

Study of Middle and High Schools in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

One NIJ-funded study examined the prevalence of dating violence among 5,647 teens (51.8 percent female, 74.6 percent Caucasian) from 10 middle schools and high schools (representing grades 7-12) throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Findings indicated that within the past year:

• 18.0 percent of respondents reported experiencing cyber dating abuse (e.g., 'my partner used my social networking account without permission' or 'my partner sent texts/emails to engage in sexual acts I did not want').
• 20.7 percent experienced physical dating violence (e.g., reporting that a partner 'pushed' or 'kicked' the respondent).
• 32.6 percent experienced psychological dating abuse (e.g., 'my partner threatened to hurt me' or 'my partner would not let me do things with other people').
• 9.0 percent experienced sexual coercion (e.g., 'my partner pressured me to have sex when [he or she] knew I didn't want to').

The study also specifically examined dating violence rates among teens who had dated within the past year (66 percent of total teens; n = 3,745). The following percentages of dating teens reported experiencing forms of abuse:

• Cyber dating abuse: 26.3 percent
• Physical dating violence: 29.9 percent
• Psychological dating abuse: 47.2 percent
• Sexual coercion: 13.0 percent

Learn more from:

• An abstract and access the final report, Technology, Teen Dating Violence and Abuse, and Bullying.
• A research summary by the grantees, Teen Dating Abuse and Harassment in the Digital World: Implications for Prevention and Intervention.

Longitudinal Study of Students in the Midwest

An NIJ-funded longitudinal study of 1,162 students in the Midwest examined the prevalence of several kinds of abuse that male and female middle and high school students experienced and perpetrated in teen dating relationships.

Physical violence. About one-third of girls and boys (35 percent and 36 percent, respectively) reported experiencing physical violence in a teen dating relationship. More girls reported perpetrating physical dating violence than boys (34 percent vs. 17 percent).

Verbal emotional abuse. Verbal emotional abuse was the most common form of abuse in teen dating relationships for both girls and boys: 73 percent of girls and 66 percent of boys reported experiencing at least one instance of verbal abuse in a dating relationship in high school. In addition, 64 percent of girls and 45 percent of boys reported perpetrating verbal emotional abuse toward a dating partner.

Sexual coercion. Nearly one in four girls and one in seven boys reported being victims of sexual coercion in a teen dating relationship.

Read an abstract and access the final report, Bullying, Sexual, and Dating Violence Trajectories From Early to Late Adolescence.

Study of Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents

NIJ-funded research has also examined the prevalence of dating violence among a national sample of Latino adolescents. Phone interviews were conducted with 1,525 Latino teens, ranging in age from 12 to 18, most of whom (76.1 percent) were born in the United States. Respondents reported experiencing the following within the past year:

• At least one form of dating violence: 19.5 percent
• Psychological dating violence: 14.8 percent
• Physical dating violence: 6.6 percent
• Sexual dating violence: 5.6 percent
• Stalking: 1.0 percent

Dating Violence Among College Students In Usable Space

Learn more from Dating Violence Among Latino Teenagers.

[note 1],[note 4] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2013 (pdf, 172 pages). MMWR (2014); 63(no. SS-4).

[note 2] Halpern, Carolyn Tucker, Selene G. Oslak, Mary L. Young, Sandra L. Martin, and Lawrence L. Kupper. 'Partner Violence Among Adolescents in Opposite-Sex Romantic Relationships: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.' American Journal of Public Health 91 (October 2001): 1679-1685.

[note 3] Halpern, Carolyn Tucker, Mary L. Young, Martha W. Waller, Sandra L. Martin, and Lawrence L. Kupper. “Prevalence of Partner Violence in Same-Sex Romantic and Sexual Relationships in a National Sample of Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent Health 35 (August 2004): 124-131.

Related Publications

• Teen Dating Abuse and Harassment in the Digital World: Implications for Prevention and Intervention

• Dating violence/abuse is illegal and punishable by law.
• 1 in 3 college women and 1 in 10 college men may be victims of sexual dating violence. (Murray, C, Kardatzke, K. Dating violence among college students: key issues for college counselors. Journal of College Counseling, March 22, 2007)
• An average of 28% of high school and college students experience dating violence at some point. (Brustin, S., 1995. Legal Response to Teen Dating Violence. Family Law Quarterly, 29, 2, 331.)
• Nearly 1 in 3 adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. (American Psychological Association, 1986. Violence and the Family: Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and Family, 10.)
• The rates of domestic violence in same-gender relationships is roughly the same as domestic violence against heterosexual women, about 25% (LAMBDA)

How does abuse or violence occur in a relationship?

Dating Violence In College

• Generally, abuse or violence occurs in a repetitive pattern known as “The Cycle of Violence”. The cycle consists of three phases: Tension Building, Abusive Incident, Honeymoon (Calm Period)/Recapture.
• The tension building phase is as it sounds. Tension begins to increase between the two partners, small arguments may occur. The tension keeps buidling, much like a rubber band being stretched. The couple is unable to break the tension in a healthy fashion, such as talking about what’s happening. The victim does not feel safe in trying to confront her abuser. The abuser will typically not pay attention if the victim does try to break the tension.
• The abusive incident may be physical, emotional, sexual etc. It may include threatening behavior, harassment, breaking furniture/property or any number of abusive/violent acts.
• The calm period, or what some refer to as the honeymoon, is when the abuser tries to make up for the abusive or violent behavior. He/she may apologise, promise that it will never happen again. They may cry, promise to go to counseling, promise to stop drinking – any number of these things, including giving gifts and generally being on his/her best behavior. The abuser realizes that he/she has crossed the line and he/she will say just about anything to keep the victim in the relationship. That is the goal of the honeymoon; to keep the victim in the relationship. The honeymoon is also called “recapture” because the abuser is doing whatever they can to keep the victim in the relationship.

Dating Violence Among College Students In Usa 2019

How can I tell if I am being abused?

• Sometimes it is difficult to know when you are being abused. Abuse is any behavior that is used to intimidate or control you. Abuse can be emotional, physical, sexual, financial, and digital. The signs may look different for different people and it’s important to know that a victim is never at fault for any kind of abusive behaviors.