Sports Team Participation and Dating Violence Victimization among High School Students: Is There an Association?

BACKGROUND: Experiencing dating violence can have serious, negative consequences for adolescents that may persist into adulthood. While there is evidence that sports team participation is a protective factor against dating violence victimization, other data suggest that participating on sports teams may be a risk factor. Because results from past studies have been inconsistent, additional studies using similar methodology are needed to more clearly examine the association between sports participation and dating violence (Taliaferro et al., 2010). Thus, this study examined the association between sports participation and dating violence victimization among a national sample of high school students in the U.S. METHODS: Data were derived from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Logistic regression analyses were conducted on weighted data to examine associations between sports team participation and experiencing physical and sexual dating violence. Each association was assessed independently and then together controlling for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: Among the survey participants that had dated or gone out with someone during the 12 months before the survey (73.9% of students), 10.3% experienced physical violence victimization from someone they were dating or going out with during the past 12 months. Also, 10.4% of students that had dated or gone out with someone during the 12 months before the survey experienced sexual violence victimization from someone they were dating or going out with during the 12 months before the survey. In addition, 7.3% of all survey participants were ever physically forced to have sexual intercourse. Unadjusted models indicated significant protective associations between playing on one or two sports teams and physical dating violence victimization; and playing on one team and forced sex victimization compared to playing on no teams. After controlling for potential confounders, results indicated that students who played on three or more sports teams within the past 12 months had higher odds of reporting sexual violence victimization [AOR= 1.49; 95% CI: 1.14-1.95] compared to those that did not play on a sports team. CONCLUSIONS: Sports team participation may not offer adolescents protection from dating violence victimization. Future research, including the collection of qualitative data, is needed to better understand the contextual factors that contribute to the association between sports team participation and dating violence victimization