Digital Dating Abuse and Adolescent Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Study

Background Early evidence indicates that adolescents’ intersecting identities are an important consideration for both the type of abuse they may experience as well as the frequency and severity of depressive symptoms as an indicator of mental health. Therefore, this explanatory mixed methods dissertation research study sought to understand the relationship between adolescent digital dating abuse (DDA) and depressive symptoms, examining differences by sex and controlling for physical & sexual teen dating violence (TDV). Methods To be eligible, participants in both phases had to report a recent experience of TDV. The quantitative phase, a secondary data analysis of the myPlan Teen Health Study (THS) (PI: Glass, 1R01CE002979-01), measured DDA using study-specific items and depressive symptoms using the PROMIS pediatric scale. Both t-tests and regression helped to inform differences between males (n=101) and females (n=391), as well as to explore sex as a moderator between DDA and depressive symptoms. The qualitative phase used remote, semi-structured interviews and a timeline activity among a sample separate of n=20 teens 15-17 years-old. Results Depressive symptoms among this sample were higher than the national average. Both controlling/monitoring and sexual DDA were associated with depressive symptoms, even after controlling for physical/sexual TDV. Females had a higher mean frequency of depressive symptoms than males, as well as more prevalent and frequent experiences of sexual DDA. The relationship between sexual DDA and depressive symptoms was significant among females in all models. There was no relationship between males’ experiences of either form of DDA and depressive symptoms. Qualitative findings argued against solely relying on mean frequency of DDA to predict depressive symptoms and suggested that what makes teens vulnerable to DDA ranges across all socioecological levels. Conclusion Digital dating abuse is commonly experienced among teens in abusive dating relationships and disproportionately impacts the health and wellbeing of cisgender female youth in particular, at least in part due to their vulnerability to sexual DDA. Efforts to understand or prevent this issue need to carefully consider the intersecting identities (such as gender identity, sex assigned at birth, or racial identity) that teens are actively exploring and developing during this life stage