Traditional and cyber dating violence among adolescents: Profiles, prevalence, and short-term associations with peer violence

Abstract

There is a paucity of studies on dating violence profiles that incorporate the forms of cyber and sexual dating violence. Moreover, the results on the predictive role of peer violence on dating violence are inconsistent. Our aim was to identify dating violence profiles and to study the predictive value of peer violence profiles on dating violence profiles using a short-term longitudinal design. The sample consisted of 498 adolescents with current or past romantic relationship (42.8% boys), aged 12-18 years (M = 14.22; SD = 1.39). Four dating violence profiles were identified with an overlap between traditional and cyberdating violence. Peer violence profiles were associated with dating violence profiles 4 months later. The results suggest the need to prevent all forms of dating violence at an early age, starting with the improvement of interpersonal relationships between peers.

Keywords: Dating violence; adolescents; cyber dating violence; gender; peer violence; sexual orientation.