Technology-Assisted Adolescent Dating Violence and Abuse: A Factor Analysis of the Nature of Electronic Communication Technology Used Across Twelve Types of Abusive and Controlling Behaviour

Little is known about the nature of adolescents’ experiences of Technology-Assisted Adolescent Dating Violence and Abuse (TAADVA) behaviours and whether the Electronic Communication Technology (ECT) used varies depending on the behaviour. This paper therefore examines the nature of adolescents’ victimisation experience of 12 different TAADVA behaviours via nine methods of ECT (phone call, text, instant messenger, social networking site, picture message, video chat, email, chatroom and website/blog). Four-hundred-and-sixty-nine 12–18-year-old British adolescents (59% ( n = 277) of which had dated in the last year) completed a questionnaire regarding their experience of TAADVA. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine how adolescents experienced the 12 TAADVA behaviours and through which of the nine ECTs they were experienced. Adolescents’ experiences of TAADVA victimisation did not significantly vary in terms of the ECT method used and often multiple TAADVA behaviours were experienced in combination with one another across a range of ECTs, demonstrated by the identification of nine factors in the analysis. The findings highlight implications for understanding and raising awareness of the extent and intrusiveness of TAADVA, particularly when multiple abusive and controlling behaviours are experienced via multiple methods or devices. It is advised that assessing the overall construct of abusive and controlling behaviour is avoided in future research and instead, the multidimensionality of the factors identified in the analysis of the TAADVA assessment tool and the different behaviours that these factors encompass need to be considered.