Dating Violence Among Adolescents: When Does it Begin?

Research has investigated dating violence (DV) in high * school populations- yet no studies have examined adolescents in the 7th and 8th grades. The present study investigated the prevalence of DV in the Permian Basin area of West - Texas. Comparisons of the prevalence of DV between junior high (7th & 8th grades), freshman high 4Sth grade)* and senior high school -(lOth, 11th, & 12th-grades) -found no significant differences of used or received DV. The prevalence of DV in the Permian Basin was similar to those found in some studies that used college-student -samples. Significant interactions effects and main effects were found for ‘ethnicity and gender in the DV subscales. Acceptance of violence was examined. This-analysis found that adolescents who had used dating violence were more accepting of violence in dating relationships. Significant between groups differences were found for ethnicity and gender