Technology-Delivered Dating Aggression: Risk and Promotive Factors and Patterns of Associations Across Violence Types Among High-Risk Youth.

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, technology (text, e-mail, and social media) is being used in dating relationships to stalk, control, threaten, and harass dating partners. This study examines risk and promotive factors associated with technology-delivered dating aggression (TDA) and relations between types of violence (physical dating/nondating, community violence, and TDA). Participants (14-20 years old) self-administered a computerized survey as part of a larger study at an urban emergency department. The study includes 210 youth who reported having a dating partner in the past 2 months. About 48.1% of participants reported TDA in the past 2 months. Mindfulness was negatively associated with TDA. Youth reporting TDA were more likely to report physical dating violence and community violence exposure. TDA is not an isolated occurrence and is positively associated with in-person violence among adolescents. Associations between TDA, risk and promotive factors, and other forms of violence can help identify avenues for targeting interventions.