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Teen dating violence is a complex issue associated with several deleterious consequences. Previous studies emphasize the importance of considering the heterogeneity of teen dating violence experiences to better understand this issue and its correlates. In this perspective, the present study aimed to identify gender-specific patterns of teen dating violence in heterosexual relationships based on directionality (victimization and perpetration) and forms of violence (psychological, physical and sexual). In addition, this study aimed to investigate how these patterns are differentially associated with attachment insecurities and emotion dysregulation. A total of 3100 adolescents who reported being in a heterosexual romantic relationship (mean age = 15.92 years; 60% girls) completed questionnaires on teen dating violence, romantic attachment and emotion dysregulation. Latent class analyses revealed four distinct patterns of teen dating violence. The first three patterns, namely Low dating violence (40% of girls and 54% of boys), Mutual psychological dating violence (34% of girls and 33% of boys) and Mutual psychological and physical dating violence (14% of girls and 5% of boys), were found for both genders. The last pattern differed greatly based on gender and was labeled Mutual psychological dating violence and sexual victimization in girls (12%) and Multiple dating violence victimization in boys (8%). Higher levels of emotion dysregulation and attachment insecurities were found in adolescents experiencing more complex patterns of dating violence. This study contributes to the development of teen dating violence prevention and intervention programs by identifying gender-specific patterns of teen dating violence and documenting their associations with important trauma-informed correlates.

Objective Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with long-term negative consequences in adolescents, but some survivors display resilience. The purpose of this study was to delineate profiles of adaptation in adolescent victims of CSA and to examine their associations with individual and environmental-systemic protective factors. Method As part of a population-based survey, 8,230 high school students were questioned about CSA and completed measures assessing a host of protective factors and indicators of positive adaptation across 5 domains: self-perception, academic success, mental health, health risk behaviors and romantic relationships. Results Using a latent class analysis, a best fitting model of 4 classes was identified. This model included a reference group of nonsexually abused teenagers and 3 classes characterizing survivors of CSA: Resilient profile (33% of youth), Externalized profile (34% of youth) and Internalized profile (33% of youth). Sexually abused youth assigned to the Resilient profile were similar to nonsexually abused youth in terms of self-esteem, academic performance, absence of clinical levels of psychological distress and dating violence. Despite experiencing CSA of comparable severity, youth in the Resilient profile reported more optimism and were less likely to rely on avoidant or emotional strategies to cope with difficulties and more likely to report high maternal and paternal support. Conclusions Findings highlight the utility of a person-oriented approach to enhance our understanding of the diversity of adaptation profiles in youth victims of CSA. Results also underscore the importance of tailoring intervention efforts to efficiently tackle the diverse needs of teen victims of CSA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment theory provides important insight regarding the etiology of teen dating violence perpetration (TDV-P). Attachment insecurities have been associated with TDV-P, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Furthermore, as of now, studies have failed to explore whether the relation between attachment insecurities and TDV-P varied according to its forms (i.e., psychological, physical or sexual) or to the perpetrator’s gender. This study aimed to investigate if emotion dysregulation mediates the association between attachment insecurities and different forms of TDV-P among girls and boys. Adolescents ( Mage = 16 years; n = 3,214; 60% girls) were recruited from a one-stage stratified cluster sample of 34 high schools in Quebec, Canada. Path analyses with probit regression models were conducted separately for girls and boys. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with more emotion dysregulation. Emotion dysregulation was, in turn, associated with higher probabilities of physical TDV-P in girls and psychological TDV-P in girls and boys. Surprisingly, emotion dysregulation was not associated with sexual TDV-P. Attachment anxiety remained directly related to higher probabilities of perpetrating all forms of TDV. These findings support the hypotheses set forth by attachment theory and highlight the utility of this theory to understand and potentially prevent TDV-P. Practitioners should more specifically address adolescents’ attachment anxiety, as it seems more related to TDV-P. Finally, this study underscores the necessity of considering gender and specific forms of TDV-P to understand the association between attachment insecurities, emotion dysregulation, and TDV-P.

L’adolescence est une période charnière pour le développement des relations amoureuses et sexuelles. Or, les corrélats de la qualité de vie sexuelle durant cette période demeurent sous-documentés. La présente étude vise à explorer le rôle médiateur de la communication des besoins sexuels dans la relation entre l’attachement amoureux et la qualité de vie sexuelle. Quatre-vingt-seize couples s’identifiant comme hétérosexuels et âgés de 15 à 21 ans ont participé à cette étude. Les résultats montrent que les adolescents qui rapportent davantage d’évitement de l’intimité ont moins tendance à communiquer leurs besoins sexuels, ce qui est associé, en retour, à une moindre qualité de vie sexuelle. Cette étude souligne l’importance de cibler les insécurités d’attachement et la communication des besoins sexuels dans les interventions visant à accroître la qualité de vie sexuelle des jeunes., Adolescence is a pivotal period for the development of romantic and sexual relationships. The present study aimed to document the correlates of sexual quality of life among adolescent. More precisely, this study explored the role of communication of sexual needs as a mediator in the association between romantic attachment and sexual quality of life. Ninety-six heterosexual couples aged between 15 and 21 were recruited. The results suggest that teenagers who report more attachment avoidance communicate less their sexual needs, which in turn is associated with lower sexual quality of life. These findings highlight the importance of targeting attachment insecurities and communication of sexual needs to optimize youths’ sexual quality of life.