TY - JOUR
T1 - Neighborhood-level factors associated with physical dating violence perpetration
T2 - Results of a representative survey conducted in Boston, MA
AU - Rothman, Emily F.
AU - Johnson, Renee M.
AU - Young, Robin
AU - Weinberg, Janice
AU - Azrael, Deborah
AU - Molnar, Beth E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this publication was provided by awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U49-CE00740), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1K01AA017630-01A1), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R03DA025823), and a grant from the RWJF New Connections program. The Boston Youth Survey was conducted by the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission (Barbara Ferrer, Executive Director), Boston’s Office of Human Services (Larry Mayes, Chief), and Boston Public Schools.
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - Neighborhood-level characteristics have been found to be associated with different forms of interpersonal violence, but studies of the relationship between these characteristics and adolescent dating violence are limited. We examined 6 neighborhood-level factors in relation to adolescent physical dating violence perpetration using both adolescent and adult assessments of neighborhood characteristics, each of which was aggregated across respondents to the neighborhood level. Data came from an in-school survey of 1,530 public high school students and a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1,710 adult residents of 38 neighborhoods in Boston. Approximately 14.3% of the youth sample reported one or more acts of physical aggression toward a dating partner in the month preceding the survey. We calculated the odds of past-month physical dating violence by each neighborhood-level factor, adjusting for school clustering, gender, race, and nativity. In our first 6 models, we used the adolescent assessment of neighborhood factors and then repeated our procedures using the adult assessment data. Using the adolescent assessment data, lower collective efficacy (AOR=1.95, 95% CI= 1.09-3.52), lower social control (AOR=1.92, 95% CI=1.07-3.43), and neighborhood disorder (AOR=1.19, 95% CI=1.05-1.35) were each associated with increased likelihood of physical dating violence perpetration. However, when we used the adult version of the neighborhood assessment data, no neighborhood factor predicted dating violence. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
AB - Neighborhood-level characteristics have been found to be associated with different forms of interpersonal violence, but studies of the relationship between these characteristics and adolescent dating violence are limited. We examined 6 neighborhood-level factors in relation to adolescent physical dating violence perpetration using both adolescent and adult assessments of neighborhood characteristics, each of which was aggregated across respondents to the neighborhood level. Data came from an in-school survey of 1,530 public high school students and a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1,710 adult residents of 38 neighborhoods in Boston. Approximately 14.3% of the youth sample reported one or more acts of physical aggression toward a dating partner in the month preceding the survey. We calculated the odds of past-month physical dating violence by each neighborhood-level factor, adjusting for school clustering, gender, race, and nativity. In our first 6 models, we used the adolescent assessment of neighborhood factors and then repeated our procedures using the adult assessment data. Using the adolescent assessment data, lower collective efficacy (AOR=1.95, 95% CI= 1.09-3.52), lower social control (AOR=1.92, 95% CI=1.07-3.43), and neighborhood disorder (AOR=1.19, 95% CI=1.05-1.35) were each associated with increased likelihood of physical dating violence perpetration. However, when we used the adult version of the neighborhood assessment data, no neighborhood factor predicted dating violence. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
KW - Collective efficacy
KW - Dating abuse
KW - Dating violence
KW - Neighborhood factors
KW - Partner violence
KW - Youth violence
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U2 - 10.1007/s11524-011-9543-z
DO - 10.1007/s11524-011-9543-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 21331747
AN - SCOPUS:79959955762
SN - 1099-3460
VL - 88
SP - 201
EP - 213
JO - Journal of Urban Health
JF - Journal of Urban Health
IS - 2
ER -