Introduction: Adolescent dating violence (ADV) increases the risk for adverse mental health outcomes among girls. State-level restorative justice (RJ) policies, survivor-centered, policy-based justice responses that focus on harm repair, may improve mental health among ADV girl survivors if designed with optimal implementation features. However, to date, it is unclear how implementation features, such as the implementation setting and strength of support, of state-level RJ policies impact mental health among this population. Thus, among states with an adolescent-focused RJ policy adopted, this study used an intracategorical intersectionality approach to examine (1) associations between state RJ policy implementation setting and support, and depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts among physical and/or sexual ADV girl survivors and (2) whether and how these associations differ by ethnoracial identity.

Methods: Individual-level data were from the 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 waves of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a state-representative, cross-sectional survey conducted biennially among public and private schools with adolescents who are in 9^th to 12^th grade in the United States (US) (N=11,202). State-level policy data were from a US RJ legislative database. Log binomial regression with a generalized estimating equation approach was used to examine lagged associations between policy setting (school-based vs. non-school-based) and policy support (high vs. low) and mental health during state-years when adolescent-focused RJ policies had been adopted and whether associations differed by ethnoracial group.

Results: Residing in a state with a school-based (vs. non-school-based) RJ policy was associated with a decreased risk of depressive symptoms for Hispanic survivors, a decreased risk of suicide ideation and attempts for Black survivors, and no association for white survivors. Similarly, high RJ policy support (vs. low) was associated with a decreased risk of depressive symptoms for Hispanic and Black survivors, a decreased risk of suicide ideation for Black survivors, and no association for white survivors.

Conclusions: Ensuring states have RJ policies that are designed to be implemented in school settings and mandated to require RJ practices with comprehensive structure and funding may be a strategy to strengthen mental health policy infrastructure in the US for Hispanic and Black ADV girl survivors.