NCJ Number
207885
Journal
Journal of Research on Adolescence Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 449-470
Date Published
2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether there was any association between female juveniles' general alcohol use and their experience of violence in their interactions with boyfriends.
Abstract
This research was part of a larger study of violence in adolescent relationships at a public, urban high school. Of the 132 female students who provided data for the larger study, 116 reported having had a boyfriend or someone they dated during the 4 months preceding either or both assessment points. Of these, 106 girls provided complete data. Ninety-five participants provided data on relationship violence at Time 1 and constitute the Time 1 cross-sectional subsample; however, only 84 participants qualified for the cross-sectional sample at Time 2. A total of 73 participants were assessed longitudinally, i.e., at both time points. Time 2 was at the end of the fall semester, approximately 4 months after the Time 1 assessment. Questionnaires were administered at each point to measure physical violence and sexual victimization in interactions with boyfriends both generally and when the girl had been drinking, general alcohol use by the participant, illicit drug use, and participant demographics. The study found that general alcohol use by participants was related to their victimization both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, but there were different findings for different forms of victimization, i.e., physical-only victimization compared with both physical and sexual victimization. General alcohol use was concurrently associated with physical-only victimization and marginally with both physical and sexual victimization, but was longitudinally related only to the combination of physical and sexual victimization. These results are generally consistent with those from previous research that has linked adolescent girls' general alcohol use and sexual victimization. Possible explanations for these findings and future research are discussed. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 37 references