TY - JOUR
T1 - “If You Don’t Have Honesty in a Relationship, Then There Is No Relationship”
T2 - African American Girls’ Characterization of Healthy Dating Relationships, A Qualitative Study
AU - Debnam, Katrina J.
AU - Howard, Donna E.
AU - Garza, Mary A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2014/11/2
Y1 - 2014/11/2
N2 - The quality of dating relationships in adolescence can have long lasting effects on identity development, self-esteem, and interpersonal skills, and can shape values and behaviors related to future intimate relationships. The aims of this study were to: (1) investigate how African American adolescent girls characterize healthy relationships; and (2) describe the meanings of these characteristics in the context of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 12 healthy dating relationship qualities. We conducted semi-structured one-on-one in-depth interviews with 33 African American high school girls in the mid-Atlantic region. Trained staff transcribed interviews verbatim and entered the data into ATLAS.ti for coding and analysis. Participants’ specified and vividly described eight healthy relationship characteristics: goodcommunication, honesty, trust, respect, compromise, understanding, individuality, and self-confidence. Of these characteristics, three (good communication, compromise, and respect) were described in ways discordant with CDC’s definitions. Findings highlight a need to better understand how girls develop values and ascribe characteristics of healthy relationships in order to reduce their risk for teen dating violence.
AB - The quality of dating relationships in adolescence can have long lasting effects on identity development, self-esteem, and interpersonal skills, and can shape values and behaviors related to future intimate relationships. The aims of this study were to: (1) investigate how African American adolescent girls characterize healthy relationships; and (2) describe the meanings of these characteristics in the context of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 12 healthy dating relationship qualities. We conducted semi-structured one-on-one in-depth interviews with 33 African American high school girls in the mid-Atlantic region. Trained staff transcribed interviews verbatim and entered the data into ATLAS.ti for coding and analysis. Participants’ specified and vividly described eight healthy relationship characteristics: goodcommunication, honesty, trust, respect, compromise, understanding, individuality, and self-confidence. Of these characteristics, three (good communication, compromise, and respect) were described in ways discordant with CDC’s definitions. Findings highlight a need to better understand how girls develop values and ascribe characteristics of healthy relationships in order to reduce their risk for teen dating violence.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Dating violence
KW - Romantic relationships
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U2 - 10.1007/s10935-014-0362-3
DO - 10.1007/s10935-014-0362-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 25168629
AN - SCOPUS:84911894908
SN - 0278-095X
VL - 35
SP - 397
EP - 407
JO - Journal of Primary Prevention
JF - Journal of Primary Prevention
IS - 6
ER -