DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37686.v1
title: The Next Generation in Measurement of Adolescent Relationship Abuse, New Jersey, 2017-2019
title: Version 1

description: Current measures of adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) do not adequately evaluate this phenomenon. The most common shortcoming of ARA surveys is that behaviors are measured without regard to context, and as a result, typical adolescent behaviors cannot be easily differentiated from abusive ARA behaviors. Moreover, existing surveys do not effectively characterize variations in the nature and severity of ARA, particularly in regard to digital and online behaviors as well as intrusive and controlling acts. Some behaviors, such as verbal teasing, name calling, or pushing, might classified as ARA when they are meant as flirting or playful behaviors.
The primary objective of this research was to develop a survey that covered a more comprehensive range of ARA behaviors, differentiated ARA from playful acts, and included the intention of the perpetrator and impact on the victim. These enhancements were viewed as critical to improving the precision of ARA measurement. This study examined ARA from early adolescence into emerging adulthood using individuals aged 13 to 25 years.
description: The purpose of this study was to improve the precision of teen dating violence (TDV) measurement by creating a developmentally appropriate measure that can differentiate typical and inappropriate dating behavior from that which would be unwanted, harmful, and potentially abusive.
description: The study design included three phases. The phases are described as follows:
<b>Phase 1: Focus Groups for Item Development.</b> To achieve the goal of creating a pool of survey items, focus groups were conducted with middle school, high school, and college students. The size and number of focus groups ranged from 4-10 individuals, with a minimum of 4 per school level, which is consistent with conventionally accepted standards (Carlson and Glenton, 2011). Focus groups informed the best time frame for assessment, response options, and guided development of item content.
<b>Phase 2: Item Testing.</b> After an initial pool of items was developed, the second phase consisted of three parts: 1) obtaining item ratings from middle school, high school, and college students who sorted items into one of 4 categories (behavior acceptable, neutral, unacceptable, very unacceptable); 2) soliciting feedback on item content from an expert panel of scholars and practitioners who participated in a Skype interview to provide feedback on the preliminary survey derived from the sorting task; and 3) interviewing middle school, high school, and college students using a cognitive interview to test item interpretation and clarity and to identify items that are not understood as they were intended (Jobe and Mingay, 1989).
<b>Phase 3: Survey Pilot Test.</b> The teen dating violence (TDV) survey was tested with middle school, high school, and college students, as well as a nationally representative sample using a survey panel database. The purpose of the pilot test was to examine psychometric properties, including reliability, factor structure and convergent validity. The sample size was chosen based on a 10:1 participant:item ratio for factor analysis within each age group (Costello and Osborne, 2005). The new TDV survey was compared to one legacy TDV measure, the CADRI. Convergent validity was also examined by comparing patterns of association between the new ARA survey and well established correlates of ARA: attitudes (Exner-Cortens, Gill, and Eckenrode, 2015; Reidy et al., 2016); anger, hostility,; and general aggression (Birkely and Eckhardt, 2015; Cascardi and Jouriles, 2016; Kerr and Capaldi, 2011).
Please note, the qualitative data from Phase 1 is not included in this release. These data will be available at a future time.
description: This study includes variables that explore perceptions of dating behaviors. These behaviors include acts of playful aggression, controlling and bullying aggression, verbal and physical aggressive behaviors, severe aggression and sexual acts, and intrusive acts.
description: Not applicable.
description: Response Rates: Not available.
description: Presence of Common Scales: 
Dating History Questionnaire (DHS; Furman and Wehner, 1992)
Attitudes about Aggression in Dating Situations Scale (AADS; Slep, Cascardi, Avery-Leaf, and O'Leary, 2001)
Justification of Verbal/Coercive Tactics Scale (JVCT) (Slep et al., 2001)
Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI; Wolfe et al., 2001)
Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss and Perry, 1992)
Positive Relationship Scale (PRS). A 45-item self-report measure, adapted from (Doss and Christensen, 2006)
Romantic Relationship Behavior Scale (RRBS)
description: The adolescent sample included middle and high school students from New Jersey local schools. The college sample included university students who were enrolled in Psychology courses and were 18 years of age or older. Samples of middle school (n=52), high school (n=56), and college students (n=253) were asked to rate the survey items along a continuum of (un)acceptability.
The experts sample included experts in the dating violence field such as scholars, local organizations, and practitioners who were identified through a Google search conducted by the research team. An Excel file was created stating their name, discipline, where they work, why they would be a good fit, contact info, and a rating from A-D, where A or B is considered an ideal candidate for interview and C or D is considered not acceptable. To achieve a rating of A or B, the individual on the expert panel had a discipline of clinical psychology, public health, sociology, psychology, and social work and was employed at an organization or agency focused on teen dating violence (TDV) work or was a published scholar with expertise in TDV. The research team contacted 10 local organizations in the nation, 14 practitioners, and 14 scholars in the dating violence field via their primary contact line which was either phone or email on the topic of adolescent relationships and intimate partner violence. A total of 15 national experts agreed to participate on the expert panel to give feedback on the survey.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Middle School Sort Task by Item Blocks Data
DS2: High School Sort Task by Item Blocks Data
DS3: College Sort Task by Item Blocks Data
DS4: Expert Panel Survey Data
DS5: Middle School Teen Dating Violence Survey Data
DS6: High School Teen Dating Violence Survey Data
DS7: College Teen Dating Violence Survey Data
DS8: National Representative Panel Teen Dating Violence Survey Data
description: Three samples were from New Jersey youth in public schools: middle school, high school, and university (grades 7-12, university students aged 18-25 years). One adult sample included an international panel of experts on the subject of intimate partner violence and teen dating violence. One youth sample, aged 13-17 years, from a United States national survey panel. Smallest Geographic Unit: Region
description: face-to-face interview; on-site questionnaire; web-based survey