title: Trajectories of dating violence: Differences by sexual minority status and gender.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how sexual minority status (as assessed using both identity and behavior) was associated with trajectories of dating violence. University students from a large Southwestern university completed questions on their sexual minority identity, the gender of their sexual partners, and about experiences of dating violence for six consecutive semesters (N = 1942). Latent growth curve modeling indicated that generally, trajectories of dating violence were stable across study participation. Sexual minority identity was associated with higher initial levels of dating violence at baseline, but also with greater decreases in dating violence across time. These differences were mediated by number of sexual partners. Having same and other-sex sexual partners was associated with higher levels of dating violence at baseline, and persisted in being associated with higher levels over time. No significant gender difference was observed regarding trajectories of dating violence.
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychoéducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Pavillon A7, 2500 Boul. De L'Université, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada. Electronic address: alexa.martin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin-Storey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 87812-1043, USA.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fromme
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D000072339:Sexual and Gender Minorities / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dating violence; Gender differences; Sexual minority; Trajectories