DOI: 10.3886/icpsr34597
title: Risky Relationships and Teen Dating Violence Among At-Risk Adolescents, Charlottesville, Virginia, 2010-2012
title: Archival Version

description: Teen dating violence is linked to numerous longstanding consequences, such as delinquency, risky sexual behavior, and adult partner violence. The purpose of Project D.A.T.E. (Demand Appreciation, Trust, and Equality) was to address gaps in current research by focusing on romantic relationship experiences among at-risk adolescents living in and around Charlottesville, Virginia. The research team investigated risk and protective factors related to teen dating violence and positive relationship outcomes within a single relationship and across multiple relationships. The team also explored how early abusive relationships impact trajectories into later abusive relationships, and how age gaps between romantic partners might contribute to victimization and other negative outcomes. The specific research questions for this longitudinal survey-based study were as follows: What risk and protective factors are related to teen dating violence and positive relationship outcomes within a single target relationship? What factors are associated with abuse across multiple relationships, and do early abusive relationships increase the likelihood youth will continue to experience abuse in future relationships? How are relationship-level characteristics associated with relationship abuse? Are adolescents at greater risk for victimization and negative reproductive health outcomes if they date older partners, and if so, why? Participants included 223 adolescents (58% female, 61% African-American) who (1) were between 13 and 18 years old, (2) answered yes to "Have you ever 'dated someone' or been in a romantic relationship that lasted at least 1 month?", and (3) received community-based services (e.g., foster care, alternative schooling) or low-income services (e.g., free or reduced lunch, low-income housing). Participants completed two waves of two-hour, in-person, self-report interviews that took place about a year apart. In each interview, participants answered questions about abuse, intimacy, and health within up to three romantic relationships (thus, up to six relationships across two waves of data collection), in addition to socio-demographics, family, and schooling measures.
description: The purpose of Project D.A.T.E. (Demand Appreciation, Trust, and Equality) was to provide insight into four gaps in current research on adolescent romantic relationships, particularly focusing on outcomes among low-income, at-risk adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18.
description: Participants completed two 2-hour in-person assessments, with the second assessment approximately a year after the first. Wave 1 data collection began in spring 2010 and continued for about 15 months. Wave 2 data collection took place between 12 and 23 months after the initial interview. Participants chose the location of their interviews for both assessments. At each interview, participants received a $50 gift card as compensation for their time. To recruit participants, the research team collaborated with local agencies that provided services to at-risk youth in and around Central Virginia, including the Virginia Department of Social Services, the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, alternative schooling programs, and multiple low-income housing developments. Some agencies initially screened youth for eligibility then provided researchers with contact information, while others distributed study flyers to youth who, if interested, contacted the research team for screening. Researchers distributed flyers in local low-income housing neighborhoods. As the study progressed, participants also referred other service-receiving peers.
description: Participants were asked to report on up to 3 romantic relationships at each wave (maximum of 6 different partners during study) and provided information for each: Relationship history: how much time spent together, satisfaction with relationship(s), decision-making split between partner(s) and respondent, relationship quality, (if broken up) who initiated and if the pair were pressured to by third parties Sexual history: if participant had sex with partner(s), if they contracted any STIs, contraception used (if any), if pregnancy occurred, age at first sexual contact with partner(s), motivations for/against sex Partner demographics: age (including age difference between participant and partner), gender, race/ethnicity Abuse victimization and perpetration (physical, sexual, psychological/emotional) Delinquent acts committed by partner and respondent (e.g., alcohol/drug use, stealing, carrying a weapon) Other items were grouped by the following themes: Screener items: if eligible individuals received any local community services pertaining to low-income housing, free/reduced lunch, or other social services for at-risk youth (e.g., alternative schooling, after-school programming, foster care, juvenile justice) Respondent demographic variables: gender, age, race/ethnicity, religion, living arrangements, sexual identity School-related variables: If participant is currently enrolled in school, school type, number of expulsions and drop-outs, grade level, letter grade for core subjects, academic engagement Family relationships: parental monitoring, social support from family members, if participant witnessed intimate partner violence between parents/parental figures, parental neglect and violence experienced Delinquent acts committed by peers (e.g., stealing, carrying a weapon) Perceptions of relationship normalcy (e.g., most couples fight) Mental health: depression inventory, coping mechanisms/motivations when faced with problems Knowledge on Virginia laws regarding sex with minors
description: Not applicable.
description: Response Rates: Not available.
description: Presence of Common Scales: HANDS Depression screening tool (Harvard Department of Psychiatry/National Depression Screening Day Scale) Engagement versus Disaffection with Learning, Student Report: Behavioral Engagement and Disaffection subscales (BE and BD) Self Description Questionnaire II - Short (SDQII-S): Math Self-Concept, Verbal Self-Concept, Academic Self-Concept subscales Parental Monitoring Scale (PM) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA): Parent Communication subscale Family Affluence Scale (FAS) Witnessing Parental Violence (WPV) Family Background Questionnaire (FBQ): Positive Childrearing, Child Neglect, Child Emotional Abuse, Child Physical Abuse subscales Denver Youth Study-Revised (DYS-R): Peer Delinquency, Friend's Delinquent Behavior, Negative Neighborhood subscales Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS): Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Negotiation subscales Safe Dates Scales (SD): Emotional Abuse subscale Conflict Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI): Sexual Abuse subscales Dispositional Trait HOPE Scale: Pathways and Agency subscales Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) Collective Efficacy scale (CE) Self Report of Offending Scale (SRO) Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure - Revised (MEIM-R) Triangular Love Scale (TLS): Intimacy Subscale Romantic Attachment Scale (AS), adapted from Hazan and Shaver (1987) Brief COPE Scale Friendship Quality Questionnaire (FQQ) Motivations Against Sex (MAS) and Motivations For Sex (MS) scale Negative Neighborhood Quality (NegN)
description: Participants were recruited via purposive sampling. To be included, participants had to meet eligibility criteria: (1) they were between 13 and 18 years old, (2) answered yes to "Have you ever 'dated someone' or been in a romantic relationship that lasted at least 1 month?", and (3) received community-based services (e.g., foster care, alternative schooling) and/or low-income services (e.g., free or reduced lunch, low-income housing). The full sample included 223 adolescents. Of those who participated in wave 1, 94.6% (n = 211) agreed to participate in wave 2. In terms of demographics, 57.8% of the sample self-identified as female. 61.4% self-identified as African-American, 21.5% as White, 13.5% as multiracial, 2.5% as Latino/a, and 1.1% as another racial-ethnic group. 86.1% reported receiving free or reduced lunch at the time of study.
description: Datasets: DS1: Risky Relationships and Teen Dating Violence Among At-Risk Adolescents, Charlottesville, Virginia, 2010-2012
description: Youth aged 13 to 18 years old living in and around Charlottesville, Virginia receiving community-based or low-income services. Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: face-to-face interview