Feasibility of Using Texting to Understand Daily Experiences of Violence Among Latina Teens

Purpose: Experiences of violence among youth have long-lasting impact on health. Consequences include injuries, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and high rates of health risk behaviors. Most studies examining violence among youth require recall of episodes over extended periods of time. However, little is known about day-to-day experiences of violence. The purpose of the current study was to determine the feasibility and acceptance among adolescent Latina females of using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) via text messages to report experiences of violence in real-time. These reports allowed further understanding of contextual factors, whether episodes of violence occurred within or outside school and included measures of violence victimization and perpetration, including emotional, sexual and physical violence.

Methods. YEMAS is a feasibility study using EMA via SMS text messaging to examine real time individual- and social-level factors influencing adolescent health. The current study utilized data from text message surveys sent four times daily for two two-week periods, with a two week break in between. Twenty-four Latina adolescents attending grades 8 - 10 in two urban high schools participated in this study. Measures were derived from established longitudinal surveys and were adapted for texting purposes (e.g., “you” shortened to “u”). Each texted survey consisted of 11 - 21 questions. Questions pertaining to violence victimization and perpetration were asked at least once a day and distributed over the period of the study.

Results. Results showed participants were willing to report experiences of violence through texting. The majority of girls who reported violence victimization also reported violence perpetration. There were 113 reports of violence victimization or perpetration, accounting for about 5% of texted responses to survey questions pertaining to violence. The majority of participants (60%) reported at least one episode of violence during the study. Episodes of violence occurred at school and after school and included each type of violence examined. Unwanted sexual comments and gestures at school had the highest percentage of reports (10.75%).

Conclusion. Violence victimization and perpetration are ongoing concerns. This study demonstrated that texting can be an efficient way to learn about daily experiences of violence, with high compliance and retention rates. The ability to create a picture of these behaviors in real-time will be extremely valuable in designing interventions to combat a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among youth. This study is the first step to better understanding the daily experience of violence among adolescents and working to combat this dangerous and deadly behavior.