Bullying as a longitudinal predictor of adolescent dating violence.
OBJECTIVE
One suggested approach to preventing adolescent dating violence is to prevent behavioral precursors to dating violence, such as bullying. However, no longitudinal study has examined bullying as a behavioral precursor to dating violence. In this study, longitudinal data were used to examine (1) whether direct and indirect bullying perpetration in the sixth grade predicted the onset of physical dating violence perpetration by the eighth grade and (2) whether the associations varied by sex and race/ethnicity of the adolescent.


METHODS
Data were collected in school from sixth graders in three primarily rural counties and then again when students were in the eighth grade. Analyses were conducted with 1,154 adolescents who had not perpetrated dating violence at the sixth-grade assessment. The sample was 47% male, 29% black, and 10% of another race/ethnicity than black or white.


RESULTS
Direct bullying, defined as hitting, slapping, or picking on another kid in the sixth grade, predicted the onset of physical dating violence perpetration by the eighth grade, controlling for indirect bullying and potential confounders. Although indirect bullying, defined as spreading false rumors and excluding students from friendship groups, was associated with the onset of physical dating violence perpetration in bivariate analyses, it did not predict the onset of physical dating violence when controlling for direct bullying. None of the associations examined varied by sex or race/ethnicity of the adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that efforts targeted at preventing direct bullying may also prevent the onset of physical dating violence.
Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Electronic address: foshee@email.unc.edu.
Vangie A
VA
Foshee
Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Heath Luz
HL
McNaughton Reyes
Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Alana M
AM
Vivolo-Kantor
Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Kathleen C
KC
Basile
Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Ling-Yin
LY
Chang
Department of Sociology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California.
Robert
R
Faris
Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Susan T
ST
Ennett
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D058445:Bullying; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina; D012424:Rural Population; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*
Adolescent dating abuse; Bullying; Dating violence; Dating violence prevention