Peer Context and the Development of the Perpetration of Adolescent Dating Violence

• NCJ Number: 243230
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2013 Pages: 471-486
• Author(s): Vangie A. Foshee; Thad S. Benefield; Heath Luz McNaughton Reyes; Susan T. Ennett; Robert Faris; Ling-Yin Chang; Andrea Hussong; Chirayath M. Suchindran
• Date Published: April 2013
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 DA16669; R49 CCV423114
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse; Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated the role of the peer context in the perpetration of adolescent dating violence.

Abstract

The peer context is a central focus in research on adolescent risk behaviors but few studies have investigated the role of the peer context in the perpetration of adolescent dating violence. This longitudinal study examined between-subjects and within-person contemporaneous and lagged effects of peer attributes, measured with social network analyses, on trajectories of dating violence perpetration and determined if effects varied by grade and/or sex of the adolescent. Data are from adolescents who participated in a five-wave panel study beginning when they were in seven through ninth grade and ending when they were in 10 through 12th grade (n = 3,412); half were male, 40.5 percent were White, 49.9 percent were Black and 10.4 percent were of another race/ethnicity. Significant between-subjects effects indicate that adolescents who typically have friends who use dating violence, and girls who are typically high in social status, are at increased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Adolescents who typically have high quality friendships and girls who typically have friends with pro-social beliefs are at decreased risk for using dating violence throughout adolescence. Significant within-person contemporaneous effects indicate that both boys and girls reported lower levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had more friends with pro-social beliefs, and reported higher levels of dating violence than usual at times when they had higher social status. None of the lagged effects were significant and none of the effects varied across grade. These findings suggest that the peer context plays an important role in the development of the perpetration of adolescent dating violence. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.