Patterns of relationships and dating violence among African-American and Latino adolescents

Background: Dating and romantic relationships are central in the lives of many young adolescents and play an important role in shaping the course of adolescent development. The quality of these relationships, including the presence or absence of aggression and violence, form the foundation for future romantic relationships.

Methods: Data were drawn from a longitudinal sample of 300 male and 294 female inner-city, low-income African-American and Latino youth and their families.

Results: Males and females reported both perpetration and victimization of aggression in their relationships, with females reporting slightly higher rates of perpetration. To identify patterns of relationships, cluster analyses were conducted using data from both partner reports of relationship quality and perpetration and victimization of aggression and violence in the relationship. Three types of relationships were identified: “healthy” relationships, characterized by low levels of aggression and high levels of support and intimacy (66%); “psychologically abusive”, reporting high levels of relationship strain and psychological aggression, and low levels of intimacy and support (27%); and those that were “generally violent”, reporting high levels of relationship strain, physical and psychological aggression by both self and partner and low levels of support and intimacy (7%). Predictors of involvement in specific relationship types included history of abuse during childhood and previous involvement in delinquent behavior for males and females and parenting and family organization for males.

Conclusions: High reported rates of violence within adolescent relationships suggest a serious problem in need of early intervention and in the context of other aspects of health relationships.