Prevalence and Correlates of the Perpetration of Cyber Dating Abuse among Early Adolescents

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence 2017-02, Vol.46 (2), p.358-375
• Main Authors: Peskin, Melissa F., Markham, Christine M., Shegog, Ross, Temple, Jeff R., Baumler, Elizabeth R., Addy, Robert C., Hernandez, Belinda, Cuccaro, Paula, Gabay, Efrat K., Thiel, Melanie, Emery, Susan Tortolero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult abuse & neglect; Aggressiveness; Behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Bullying; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Clinical Psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dating; Dating services; Early Adolescents; Ecological models; Empirical Research; Environmental aspects; Ethnicity; Female; Females; Gender; Grade 6; Health promotion; Health Psychology; History of Psychology; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Intimate Partner Violence - statistics & numerical data; Law and Psychology; Male; Middle school students; Middle schools; Minority & ethnic groups; Participation; Personal relationships; Prevalence; Prevention; Psychology; Public health; Qualitative research; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Social Networking; Social research; Teenagers; Text messaging; Violence
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-016-0568-1

Much is known about the prevalence and correlates of dating violence, especially the perpetration of physical dating violence, among older adolescents. However, relatively little is known about the prevalence and correlates of the perpetration of cyber dating abuse, particularly among early adolescents. In this study, using a predominantly ethnic-minority sample of sixth graders who reported ever having had a boyfriend/girlfriend ( n  = 424, 44.2 % female), almost 15 % reported perpetrating cyber dating abuse at least once during their lifetime. Furthermore, using a cross-sectional design, across multiple levels of the socio-ecological model, the individual-level factors of (a) norms for violence for boys against girls, (b) having a current boyfriend/girlfriend, and (c) participation in bullying perpetration were correlates of the perpetration of cyber dating abuse. Collectively, the findings suggest that dating violence interventions targeting these particular correlates in early adolescents are warranted. Future studies are needed to establish causation and to further investigate the relative importance of correlates of the perpetration of cyber dating abuse among early adolescents that have been reported among older adolescents.