Can an Interactive Mobile Application Prevent Adolescent Dating Abuse?

Though national research and intervention efforts have aimed to reduce adolescent dating abuse (ADA), 10 year prevalence estimates suggest that ADA remains a persistent public health problem. National estimates suggest that one in three youth are verbally or psychologically abused and one in ten youth are hit, slapped, kicked, or pushed on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend each year. Approximately 8% of adolescent high school students report having been physically forced to have sexual intercourse. Safety planning is the most widely advocated intervention to reduce intimate partner abuse, yet safety planning services specific to adolescents have not been systematically developed or tested. The MyPlan interactive application was developed to provide easy access to safety planning services for college-aged women. The app allows the user to enter information on relationship health, safety priorities, and severity of violence/danger in relationship. The App then provides a personalized safety plan with links to local resources. With some modifications, the MyPlan app could also be useful to middle and high school students who are experiencing dating abuse. The purpose of this study was to obtain feedback from youth about the MyPlan app and adapt it for adolescent use.

A convenience sample of thirty male and female adolescents, aged 14-18 were recruited to participate in focus groups and individual interviews. Participants were asked to complete a one-time app session on their phone or tablet during the focus groups/individual interviews. Adolescents provided feedback on: (a) developmentally appropriate language, format, and platform, (b) warning signs and red flags of dating abuse, and (c) risks and benefits to using the application on behalf of a friend. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes and patterns in the data. Interview transcripts were first read to get a sense of the whole, and then coded line-by-line, using a list of codes inductively developed from the data. Related codes were grouped together into categories. As the analysis proceeded, patterns and relationships, both within and across codes, was sought. Themes, or expressions describing some aspect of the participants' experience, were derived for this analysis.

Preliminary themes emerging from the data include: a) emotional and psychological abuse concerns, b) practical limitations of an app for dating abuse help, c) availability of local resources, and d) characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Additional analysis of emerging themes will be conducted to determine how to modify the MyPlan app for adolescent youth and to potentially develop another innovative product to prevent ADA.