title: Psychosocial factors associated with adolescent boys' reports of dating violence.
abstract: The prevalence of dating violence, as well as its association with psychosocial factors, was examined among a nationally representative sample of 9th- through 12th-grade U.S. boys (N = 7,434) who completed the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The dependent variable was physical dating violence; the independent variables were violence, suicide, substance use, and sexual risk behavior. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were examined. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine all significant independent variables from the univariate models. Adjusted OR and 95% CI were examined to assess the significance of these relationships. In terms of prevalence, 9.13% of the boys reported physical dating violence. Boys who reported sad/hopeless feelings (OR = 1.68), had attempted suicide (OR = 2.22), reported fighting (OR = 1.81), had multiple sex partners (OR = 3.53), and reported nonuse of condoms (OR = 1.66) were more likely to report physical dating violence. These findings indicate that physical dating violence among adolescent boys may be a more serious problem than has previously been recognized. It was concluded that intervention programs should include a focus on boys as not only perpetrators but also recipients of dating violence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Community Health, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Maryland, Suite 2387 Valley Drive, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA. dh192@umail.umd.edu
authors.forename: Donna E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: Min Qi
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003380:Courtship; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000528:radiation effects; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data