Citation

Choi HJ, Elmquist J, Shorey RC, Rothman EF, Stuart GL, Temple JR. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2017; 36(1): 80-87.

Affiliation

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UTMB Health, Galveston, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/dar.12462

PMID

28109181

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Alcohol use is one of the most widely accepted and studied risk factors for teen dating violence (TDV). Too little research has explored longitudinally if it is true that an adolescent's alcohol use and TDV involvement simultaneously occur. In the current study, we examined whether there were latent status based on past-year TDV and alcohol use and whether female adolescents changed their statuses of TDV and alcohol use over time.

METHODS: The sample consisted of 583 female youths in seven public high schools in Texas. Three waves of longitudinal data collected from 2011 to 2013 were utilised in this study. Participants completed self-report assessments of alcohol use (past-year alcohol use, number of drinks in the past month and episodic heavy drinking within the past month) and psychological and physical TDV victimisation and perpetration. Latent transition analysis was used to examine if the latent status based on TDV and alcohol use changed over time.

RESULTS: Five separate latent statuses were identified: (i) no violence, no alcohol; (ii) alcohol; (iii) psychological violence, no alcohol; (iv) psychological violence, alcohol; and (v) physical and psychological violence, alcohol. Latent transition analysis indicated that adolescents generally remained in the same subgroup across time.

DISCUSSION: This study provides evidence on the co-occurrence of alcohol use and teen dating violence, and whether teens' status based on dating violence and alcohol use are stable over time.

FINDINGS from the current study highlight the importance of targeting both TDV and substance use in intervention and prevention programs.

© 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol use; latent transition analysis; teen dating violence