NCJ Number
251826
Journal
Criminal Behavior and Mental Health Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2016 Pages: 240-250
Date Published
October 2016
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article presents the findings and methodology of a study that examined possible underlying factors for teenage girls' involvement in teen dating violence (TDV), either as a perpetrator or a victim.
Abstract
Teen dating violence (TDV) is a common phenomenon of great public concern. TDV may lead to severe long-term consequences for victims and offenders, and even more so for females than for males. Since social learning theory is commonly used to explain internalization of parents' behavior on children's behavioral expressions, but less so on parents' emotion regulation as a direct link to later TDV, this study focused on this potential causal link with TDV, as well as racial differences in any causal dynamics. Longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450) to investigate whether and how parents' positive and negative emotion regulation is related to TDV, controlling for early aggression and race. The study found a moderately strong association between parents' negative emotion regulation and their daughters' involvement in serious dating violence. It also found that many more African-American girls were involved in TDV compared to Caucasian girls, both as a perpetrator and victim. The article concludes with a discussion of directions for future research that focuses on emotion regulation and dating violence. (Publisher abstract modified)