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This study investigates variation in adolescent attitudes regarding dating violence under different conditions, the association of these conditional attitudes with subsequent adolescent relationship abuse (ARA), and youth and parent-reported characteristics associated with youth attitudes. The sample consists of 607 youth, as a subset from those who responded to a nationally representative longitudinal survey of dating violence. A latent class analysis identified three profiles of attitudinal patterns: No Tolerance for Hitting Partners (NT), Some Tolerance for Hitting Partners (ST), and High Tolerance for Hitting Partners (HT). The HT profile predicted subsequent physical (compared to the NT profile), sexual ARA perpetration (compared to both the NT and the ST profiles), and physical ARA victimization (compared to the NT profile). The ST profile predicted subsequent psychological ARA perpetration and victimization (compare to the NT profile). Results inform youth dating violence prevention programs to reduce ARA and intimate partner violence by changing youth attitudes toward dating violence., (© 2022. Society for Prevention Research.)

This study examines whether online sexual harassment (SH) is a unique form of behavior, separate and apart from in-person SH. Data were drawn from the National Survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV), a national representative household survey focused on youth interpersonal aggression. A weighted sample of 1,184 youth (12-21 years old) completed a baseline and a follow-up survey 1 year later. Through latent class analysis (LCA), we investigate our first research question of whether there are distinct classes/profiles of mutually exclusive online or in-person SH victims or whether they mostly overlap. Second, does there exist a high-rate group of SH victims who experience most of the SH behaviors both in-person and online? Third, what individual characteristics and behaviors, based on past research, are associated with these identified profiles of SH? LCA did not reveal an in-person-only or online-only SH class. The majority of the sample (78.5%) were represented in a Low/Near Zero SH class; 15.3% in a Sexual Orientation Harassment class suffering sexual orientation-related verbal harassment online and in-person; 4.2% in a Verbal SH class suffering verbal sexual comments, being forced to talk about sex, and being shown sexual pictures in-person and online; and 1.9% in a High SH class featured by a high probability of experiencing all online and in-person forms of SH. Biological sex, attitudes, anger, previous violence exposure, and gender stereotyping each predicted at least one latent class. The findings can help inform the design of more effective interventions to prevent SH, highlighting the overlapping nature of in-person and online SH. Prevention efforts designed to address in-person SH need to also consider online SH and vice versa. Clinicians should also consider the risk factors of SH identified in this study in their work identifying at-risk youth.

This study identified classes of adolescents who differed in their patterns of reported aggression and victimization, examined the stability of these patterns, and explored factors associated with changes in patterns across time. Participants were 477 students from an urban and an adjoining county school system. The overall sample was 48% male and had an average age of 11.3 years. The urban sample was predominantly African American (80%); the county sample was primarily Caucasian (40%) and African American (38%). Self-report aggression and victimization measures completed at the beginning of sixth grade and the end of seventh grade were analyzed using latent class analyses and latent transition analyses. Support was found for four classes: nonvictimized aggressors, aggressive-victims, predominantly victimized, and well-adjusted youth. Emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and site were associated with membership in the aggressive-victim class in the expected direction, providing support for the validity of the classes. The well-adjusted class was the most stable in class membership over time; the predominantly victimized class was the least stable. In addition, nonvictimized aggressors and predominantly victimized youth were more likely than those in the well-adjusted class to transition into the aggressive-victim class. These findings suggest notable stability in aggressor/victim classes over time and emphasize the importance of developing prevention programs that target the unique needs of distinct aggressor/victim classes in adolescence.