Association Between Dating Violence and Behavioral and Health Outcomes Among Early Adolescents From Denmark: The Role of Exposure to Childhood Maltreatment

Abstract

AimTo examine the unique contribution of child maltreatment victimization on the association between adolescent dating violence (ADV) and four negative behavioral and health-related factors.MethodIn total, 2,934 7th grade students (M = 13.5, SD = .5) filled out questionnaires at school. Binominal logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of child maltreatment on the relationship between ADV and behavioral and health-related factors.ResultsAfter child maltreatment was taken into account, associations between ADV and the negative behavioral and health-related factors became weaker.ConclusionsThe findings from the present study suggest that focusing on one victimization type (such as ADV) when examining psychological outcomes, can be problematic as the causal relationship may be misrepresented when an adolescent's broader victimization profile and context is not considered.