Adolescent dating violence victimization, coping, and psychological well-being.

This dissertation assessed (1) the relation between dating violence victimization and psychological well-being (anxiety, depression, dissociation, post-traumatic stress, self-esteem and life satisfaction); (2) how adolescents cope with dating violence victimization; and (3) if the severity of dating violence victimization moderates the relation between coping and psychological well-being. The participants were 190 Black and White high school students, ages 13 to 19 years of age. The sample was 53% Black and 47% female. Data were collected utilizing self-administered questionnaires. Female victims of severe dating violence victimization reported higher levels of post-traumatic stress than did female non-victims, after controlling for demographic, family violence, social desirability, and psychological maltreatment variables. For males, higher levels of psychological maltreatment were related to higher levels of anxiety, depression, dissociation, and post-traumatic stress, and to lower levels of life satisfaction, after controlling for demographic, family violence, social desirability, and physical dating violence variables. Within-group differences indicated that female victims of severe violence reported more anxiety and post-traumatic stress, and less life satisfaction and self-esteem than did female victims of mild violence. There were no within-group differences for males. The examination of coping behaviors indicated the use of both emotion-focused and problem-focused behaviors in response to dating violence victimization. Female victims of severe dating violence reported utilizing significantly more escape-avoidance, distancing, and self-controlling coping than did female victims of mild violence. Males' coping did not differ significantly by the severity of their victimization. The relation between coping and psychological well-being suggested that the greater use of more avoidant and emotion-focused coping behaviors was related to lower levels of psychological well-being. The results also showed that the severity of dating violence victimization did not moderate the relation between coping and psychological well-being. These findings, while limited by several factors, including cross-sectional design, self-report bias, and small sample size, indicate that dating violence is a serious problem among high school students and is significantly and negatively related to their psychological well-being. Future research in this area should include a longitudinal research design, multiple reporters, and a larger sample size.PhDDevelopmental psychologyPsychologySocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130912/2/9825177.pd