Early Money Lending Practices, Financial Resentment, Economic Control and Subsequent Adolescent Dating Relationship Abuse: Longitudinal Results from a National Sample

Introduction: In the intimate partner violence (IPV) literature there is a considerable focus on the role of financial considerations, including the extent to which economic strains and financial decision-making are associated with relationship conflict. Yet limited work has considered whether economic factors influence the use of violence in adolescent dating relationships. A recent article examined associations between adolescent financial behaviors and relationship abuse and found that requests for money lending from a romantic partner were associated with heightened risk of moderate and serious threats/physical violence (Copp, Mumford, & Taylor, 2016). Yet given the cross-sectional nature of this existing work, additional questions remain relative to whether early adolescent financial behaviors are linked to violent forms of relationship conflict in later adolescence.

Methods: We draw on longitudinal data from the National Survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV) to examine interrelationships between early adolescent experiences of providing/receiving economic support, feelings of financial resentment, exposure to economic control and subsequent ARA perpetration. We begin by exploring bivariate associations across the full range of study variables. Next, we estimate a series of logistic regression models to determine whether early adolescent financial behaviors (waves 1 and 2) predict subsequent ARA perpetration (wave 3), controlling for a number of well-documented risk factors. Finally, given differences in traditional gender role expectations regarding financial decision-making and the provision of support, we estimate gender interactions to determine whether the associations between adolescent financial considerations and ARA perpetration are similar for young men and women.

Results: Preliminary findings indicate that respondent and partner requests for money lending and feelings of financial resentment during early adolescence are associated with subsequent ARA perpetration. We expect these associations to persist in multivariate models, net of a broad range of potential confounds. Although we expect gender differences across the different financial considerations included in this investigation, we do not expect the associations between such considerations and ARA perpetration to be conditioned by gender.

Conclusion: Given that adolescents remain largely financially dependent on their parents, prior work has seldom examined associations between adolescent financial behaviors and ARA. The current investigation suggests that adolescents not only confront a number of financial considerations in the context of their dating relationships, but that such considerations are associated with subsequent violence perpetration. These findings underscore the potential utility of directing attention to financial matters in adolescent ARA intervention and prevention programming alongside other unhealthy or problematic dynamics.