The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64323

Harry Kwon, MPH, CHES, Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, Suite 2387, Valley Drive, College Park, MD 20742-2611, 301-996-4464, htk2000@yahoo.com and Min Qi Wang, PhD, Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, CHHP, College Park, MD 20742.

Dating violence and violence-related behaviors are common among courting relationships. Previous research indicates that prevalence rates of dating violence range from 9% to 65%. The effects of dating violence can lead to further public health-related lifestyle concerns, especially among high school students. This study examined the association between several common youth risk behaviors and date violence using data (N=15,349) from the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The weighted univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using Survey Data Analysis (SUDAAN) to adjust the standard error estimate of the multi-stage sampling. The main outcome (dependent) variable was date violence reported as a binary (dichotomous) variable. The significant predictors from the univariate model were carrying a gun, physical fights, smoking, binge drinking, drug use, sexual behavior, age, and gender (p<.05). The multivariate logistic regression revealed that those who have had two or more sexual partners (OR=2.81, p<.001), carried a gun (OR=1.81, p<.001), participated in binge drinking (OR=1.56, p<.05), used cocaine (OR=0.56, p<.05), and engaged in two or more physical fights (OR=1.65, p<.001) are more likely to be involved with date violence. At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to recognize common youth risk behaviors that play a role in date violence, focus on modifiable risk behaviors, including binge drinking, drug use, and sexual behavior when developing interventions, and apply this information in developing health education programs focusing on all high school grade levels, more importantly starting as early as the 9th grade level.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, participants in this session will be able to:
• List the psychosocial risk factors associated with adolescent dating violence.
• Identify contrasts in the profiles of adolescents who are victims of dating violence.
• Articulate the implications for intervention and prevention research which are suggested by the study findings.
• Discuss future research directions which are suggested by the study findings.

Keywords: Adolescents, Violence Prevention

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.