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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Virginia Nolan, z, z, z, AL 12345, 123456789, z@z.com
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescent sibling violence and subsequent college dating violence.
Methods: Five hundred thirty-eight community college students completed a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale II (CTS-II). This scale measures the extent and severity of interpersonal psychological and/or physical conflict. Survey items included behaviors ranging from verbal threats to actual weapon use and assessed the respondent’s experiences as both victim and perpetrator.
Results: Eighty-nine percent of the respondents reported having at least one sibling. The mean age difference between the siblings was 3.90 years. Siblings who were closer in age reported higher levels of conflict. Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between sibling violence and dating violence experiences. Analyses also revealed that “perpetrating sibling violence” was a statistically significant predictor of “perpetrating dating violence” (p<.001), and being the “victim of sibling violence” was a statistically significant predictor for being the “victim of dating violence”(p<.001).
Conclusions: Based on these findings one’s experience with sibling violence during early adolescence appears to play a role in later dating violence. Currently, it is estimated that 83% of children have siblings and the majority of parents believe that sibling violence is harmless and without consequences. The implied link between sibling violence and subsequent intimate partner violence calls for future research that will expand understanding of this relationship.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.