title: Characteristics of violence among high-risk adolescent girls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent evidence demonstrates increasing rates of involvement with violence among adolescent girls. The objective of this study was to describe the types and sources of violence experienced within social contexts of adolescent girls at high risk for pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative data for this analysis are drawn from intervention summary reports of 116 girls participating in Prime Time, a youth development intervention for adolescent girls. Descriptive content analysis techniques were used to identify types and sources of violence experienced by girls within their daily contexts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Types of violence included physical fighting, witnessing violence, physical abuse, gang-related violence, verbal fighting, verbal abuse, and sexual abuse. Sources of violence included family, peers and friends, romantic partners, community violence, and self-perpetrated violence. Many girls in this study experienced violence in multiple contexts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is imperative that efforts to assess and prevent violence among adolescent girls include paying attention to the social contexts in which these adolescents live.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Secor-Turner
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garwick
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sieving
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seppelt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D016387:Women's Health; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Adolescent girls; social context; violence