What Accounts for Demographic Differences in Trajectories of Adolescent Dating Violence? An Examination of Intrapersonal and Contextual Mediators

Abstract Purpose To identify intrapersonal and contextual factors that mediate associations between demographic variables (minority status, socioeconomic status, family structure, gender, and neighborhood disadvantage) and trajectories of moderate and severe physical dating violence perpetration from ages 13–19 years. Methods Multi-wave data from 959 adolescents were analyzed using formal mediation analysis in a multilevel analytical framework. Results Gender and neighborhood disadvantage were not associated with trajectories of dating violence, and therefore mediation was not examined for those variables. At all ages, minority adolescents reported perpetrating significantly more moderate and severe physical dating violence than non-minority adolescents. Destructive communication skills, acceptance of dating abuse, gender stereotyping, and exposure to family violence significantly mediated those associations. Parental education was significantly negatively associated with moderate physical dating violence. Acceptance of dating abuse, gender stereotyping, and exposure to family violence significantly mediated that association. At all ages, adolescents from single-parent households perpetrated significantly more severe physical dating violence than adolescents from two-parent households, but no variables mediated that association. Conclusions Each of the identified mediating variables is amenable to change through interventions targeted at high-risk subgroups of adolescents identified by these demographic characteristics.