Examining the Association Between Forms of Bullying and Teen Dating Violence Victimization

Bullying is a preventable public health issue that is increasingly being linked to other forms of aggression and violence victimization. For example, Miller and colleagues (2013) found that bullying, dating violence, and sexual harassment often co-occur and stress the need to better understand the confluence of these behaviors to design preventive interventions.  The current study will explore the various forms of bullying (verbal, physical, and relational) and their association with both physical and emotional teen dating violence

Data come from 58 Maryland high schools participating in a state-wide project focused on measuring and improving school climate.  Data were collected from adolescents in grades 8-12 via a web-based survey administered in spring 2013. The youth reported their personal experiences with physical and emotional dating violence, as well as experiences with physical, relational (e.g. cyber), and verbal bullying.  Students were also asked about their bystander behaviors related to bullying. A total of 27,698 students participated in the data collection with a mean age of 15.94 (SD=1.34), 49.2% male students.  Participating schools included a diverse population with a minority rate of 46.78% (SD = 25.1) and mean student enrollment of 1,262.9 (SD = 462.9).  Three-level hierarchical linear models were conducted to examine the association between personal experiences with forms of bullying and dating violence victimization, while accounting for the nested nature of the data (i.e., students within classrooms, within schools). 

            Approximately 22.8% of participants reported having been bullied, whereas 22.5% reported concerns about physical forms of teen dating violence and 23.6% expressed concerns about emotional forms of teen dating violence. Multilevel results indicated that student demographics were significantly associated with experiences of both physical and emotional dating violence. Specifically, older youth, males, and minority youth were more likely to report being a victim of physical dating violence, while only older youth reported increased emotional dating violence.  Adolescents who had experienced physical bullying were twice as likely to have also experienced physical dating violence.  In addition, students reporting relational bullying victimization were twice as likely report emotional dating violence.  Interestingly, the perceived norms about students and adults at their school trying to stop bullying were associated with a reduced risk of physical and emotional dating violence.  Findings underscore the need to understand the interrelationship between dating violence and bullying to better design prevention efforts that address both forms of violence.