NCJ Number
231845
Journal
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma Volume: 19 Issue: 5 Dated: July/August 2010 Pages: 565-583
Date Published
July 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined rates of mental health disorders among dating violence victims compared to nonvictims, and explored the characteristics and cognitive corelates of dating violence victimization among a group of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents.
Abstract
The presence of dating violence victimization as well as its relation to psychiatric diagnosis and cognitive processes was examined in a sample of 155 adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric facility. Participants and their parents completed semistructured diagnostic interviews. Participants also completed self-report measures of dating violence victimization and cognitive functioning. Seventy-seven percent of adolescents who had initiated dating reported psychological, physical, sexual abuse, or some combination by a dating partner over the past year. Victims of psychological abuse alone as well as physical or sexual violence endorsed higher rates of major depressive disorder compared to nonvictims. Physical and sexual dating violence victims also endorsed significantly higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorders, more frequent cooccurrence of externalizing and internalizing disorders, and more frequent negative cognitive biases, relative to nonvictimized adolescents. Findings suggest that psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents with dating violence histories represent a subgroup of adolescent inpatients with a particularly serious clinical picture. Tables and references (Published Abstract)