Predictors of dating violence perpetration

In the recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Parent and peer predictors of physical dating violence perpetration in early adolescence: tests of moderation and gender differences, the authors find some potentially important difference between adolescent males and females linked to dating violence:

Whereas parental involvement was unrelated to physical dating aggression for girls, boys who reported that their parents monitored them more closely reported lower levels of perpetration. A contrasting gendered pattern was shown for parental support for nonaggressive solutions. Girls (but not boys) who perceived their parents’ to be more supportive of non- aggressive solutions reported lower levels of PPDV.

This study suggests that prevention programs should recognize that some factors are different for boys and girls.  Thus, prevention programs cannot use “one size fits all” and need to tailor its messages.

Very interesting concepts.

What do you think?

P.S. The researchers use a seven question measure to find that

Among the dating youth, 29% (15% of the total sample) reported perpetrating at least one act of physical violence against their boyfriend=girlfriend. A greater proportion of girls (31%) than boys (27%) reported perpetrating at least one act of partner violence.

Interesting to see just as I read Losing the “gender” in gender-based violence this week about just this point.

Here is the abstract and full citation:

Parent and peer predictors of physical dating violence perpetration in early adolescence: tests of moderation and gender differences.

Miller S, Gorman-Smith D, Sullivan T, Orpinas P, Simon TR. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 2009; 38(4): 538-50.

Click here for a link to the article on the journal’s web site.

(Copyright © 2009, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates)

This study examined parenting and peer predictors of physical dating violence perpetration during early adolescence and tested moderation among these predictors and gender. Participants were 2,824 ethnically diverse sixth-grade students with a recent boyfriend/girlfriend who was part of a multisite, longitudinal investigation of the development and prevention of violence among middle school students. Those students who reported having a boyfriend/girlfriend reported significantly more drug use and delinquent activity and were more likely to be male. Twenty-nine percent of youth with a boyfriend/girlfriend reported perpetrating physical aggression against their boyfriend/girlfriend. Parenting and peer variables were significant predictors of physical dating violence. However, gender moderated the association between parenting practices and physical dating violence, with parental monitoring inversely linked to dating violence for boys and parent support for nonaggression inversely linked to dating violence for girls. Parent support for aggression also moderated the association between peer deviancy and reported perpetration. Finally, gender moderated the interaction between peer deviancy and parent support for nonaggressive solutions.