Adolescent Dating Violence: Application of a U.S. Primary Prevention Program in St. Lucia

Dating violence among adolescents has been found to be a critical social and cultural problem in many locations worldwide, including St. Lucia (e.g., Howard, Debnam, & Wang, 2013; Kerig, 2010a, 2010b; Moser & van Bronkhorst, 1999; Straus, 2004). However, a factor that contributes to the complexity of research in this area is the lack of a single definition of adolescent dating violence within the literature. One definition is the use of physical force to control and manipulate one's partner (Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2008). In addition to physical aggression, broader definitions exist that encompass verbal and emotional aggression, which often occur in romantic relationships (Kyle, 1991). For this study, we used the definition of dating violence provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC; n.d.-c) Choose Respect program, that is, "a pattern of violent behavior--physical, emotional, or sexual--by one partner in a dating relationship toward the other partner" (para. 1). Our study was conducted on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The Caribbean is a region of the world composed of more than 7,000 islands, some of which are independent and some of which are territories of other countries. The Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Curacao are among the countries included as part of the Caribbean. Much of the available literature on adolescent dating violence has been focused on Western investigations with U.S. samples, and most of the studies conducted in the Caribbean explore domestic violence specifically among adults. In a study conducted on the Caribbean island of Curacao, van Wijk and de Bruijn (2012) found that one out of three people experienced domestic violence, with gender and age as the most significant risk factors for domestic violence. Preventing and reducing dating violence in the Caribbean has positive implications for decreasing high-risk and unhealthy behaviors in youth (Wolfe et al., 2009). However, residents of St. Lucia, like those in many other Caribbean countries (Le Franc, Samms-Vaughan, Hambleton, Fox, & Brown, 2008), struggle with dating and interpersonal violence. Using data from a sample of St. Lucian secondary students in three schools, we sought to explore the influence of a dating violence prevention curriculum. Specifically, we used the Choose Respect program, a curriculum that attempts to increase individuals' knowledge and awareness and change their beliefs and attitudes about dating violence (CDC, 2006b, n.d.-a), to determine its effectiveness with St. Lucian students. This program was used because it was derived empirically and is recognized for providing youth and parents with the tools to discuss dating violence (CDC, n.d.-b). Caribbean Adolescents and Dating Violence Because there is limited research using St. Lucian samples, we examined the available literature on dating violence among adolescents in the Caribbean (e.g., Moser & van Bronkhorst, 1999). Violence in general in the adolescent population was identified as a pervasive concern in Caribbean countries (Halcon et al., 2003). For example, researchers found that in a sample of nine Caribbean countries (including St. Lucia), one in six adolescents reported thinking that they would not live to the age of 25 years. In addition, two out of five youth reported that sometimes, or most of the time, they thought about hurting or killing another person (Halcon et al., 2003). Halcon et al. (2003) also found that among participants who were sexually active, almost half reported that their first intercourse was forced. Furthermore, Pilgrim and Blum (2012), in a review of the literature on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) in the English-speaking Caribbean, found that at the individual level, gender was a key factor associated with ASRH, and the presence of violence in the family predicted ASRH at the macrosystemic level. …