Examining the influence of family communication on adolescent girls\u27 experiences with dating violence

Adolescent girls, especially those who live in urban communities, report experiencing alarming amounts of teen dating violence (TDV). Adolescent girls who experience TDV often suffer numerous psychological, physical, and sexual health consequences that have serious and long-lasting effects. Thus, intervening in early adolescence is critical to protecting the health and well-being of adolescent girls and preventing the occurrence of chronic disease later in life. Families are the most influential force in the lives of children and adolescents. Researchers have found that certain family factors are protective against adolescents\u27 participation in health-compromising behaviors such as alcohol and drug use and risky sexual behaviors. In particular, both general family communication and mother-daughter communication around a specific behavior have emerged as being protective for adolescent girls. Yet, little is known about family or mother-daughter communication in relation to teen dating violence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop a multifaceted understanding of communication within the context of the family as it relates to girls\u27 experiences with teen dating violence. This study used cross-sectional survey data collected in a larger parent study with 184 adolescent girls aged 14–19 that were recruited from reproductive health clinics in large northeastern city. The principle findings from this study were: (a) general family communication was not significantly associated with teen dating violence, (b) a combination of exposure to interparental violence, depression, and maternal education level best predicted the variance in teen dating violence, (c) mother-daughter communication about dating violence was not significantly associated with teen dating violence, exposure to interparental violence, or depression, (d) girls\u27 perceived ability to communicate with their mother demonstrated a significant positive relationship with both exposure to interparental violence and depression, which in turn demonstrated a significant inverse association with teen dating violence. These results indicate that more work needs to be done to understand how individual and family factors for TDV intersect and influence girls\u27 experiences with dating violence