Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This article examines whether the frequency, dyadic nature, and potential implications of relationship violence differ in parenting (n = 163) and nulliparous (i.e., never given birth; n = 165) adolescent females from low-income, urban communities. We found the frequency and dyadic nature of violence did not differ between parental status groups. Over half of the adolescents in both groups reported relationship violence in the past year, with female-enacted violence more common thanmale-enacted violence. However, significant group differences emerged in the relationship between violence and subsequent relationship dissolution and mental health. Higher levels of female-enacted violence predicted relationship dissolution among nulliparous adolescents but predicted increases in depression in parenting adolescents. Findings highlight the need for violence prevention programs tailored specifically to the developmental and contextual needs of adolescent mothers. By the age of 15, most adolescents have begun dat-ing (Zimmer-Gembeck, 1999). Consequently, negotiating dyadic interactions with a romantic partner is a com-mon task during the teenage years. In the past decade, a growing body of research has focused on these roman-tic relationships as a context for understanding both nor