Adolescent Partner Research Articles

Understanding Adolescent and Family Influences on Intimate Partner Psychological Violence During Emerging Adulthood and Adulthood

The intergenerational transmission of violence directed toward intimate partners has been documented for the past three decades. Overall, the literature shows that violence in the family of origin leads to violence in the family of destination. However, this predominately cross-sectional or retrospective literature is limited by self-selection, endogeneity, and reporter biases as it has not been able to assess how individual and family behaviors simultaneously experienced during adolescence influence intimate partner violence throughout adulthood. The present study used data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP; N = 392; 52 % Female), a multi-method, multi-trait prospective approach, to overcome this limitation. We focused on psychological intimate partner violence in both emerging adulthood (19-23 years) and adulthood (27-31 years), and include self and partner ratings of violence as well as observational data in a sample of rural non-Hispanic white families. Controlling for a host of individual risk factors as well as interparental psychological violence from adolescence (14-15 years), the results show that exposure to parent-to-child psychological violence during adolescence is a key predictor of intimate partner violence throughout adulthood. In addition, negative emotionality and the number of sexual partners in adolescence predicted intimate partner violence in both emerging adulthood and adulthood. Exposure to family stress was associated positively with intimate partner violence in adulthood but not in emerging adulthood, whereas academic difficulties were found to increase violence in emerging adulthood only. Unlike previous research, results did not support a direct effect of interparental psychological violence on psychological violence in the next generation. Gender differences were found only in emerging adulthood. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of the current literature and future directions.

Individual and Family Predictors of the Perpetration of Dating Violence and Victimization in Late Adolescence

Teen dating violence is a crime of national concern with approximately one-fourth of adolescents reporting victimization of physical, psychological, or sexual dating violence each year. The present study examined how aggressive family dynamics in both childhood and early adolescence predicted the perpetration of dating violence and victimization in late adolescence. Children (n = 401, 43 % female) were followed from kindergarten entry to the age of 18 years. Early adolescent aggressive-oppositional problems at home and aggressive-oppositional problems at school each made unique predictions to the emergence of dating violence in late adolescence. The results suggest that aggressive family dynamics during childhood and early adolescence influence the development of dating violence primarily by fostering a child's oppositional-aggressive responding style initially in the home, which is then generalized to other contexts. Although this study is limited by weaknesses detailed in the discussion, the contribution of longitudinal evidence including parent, teacher, and adolescent reports from both boys and girls, a dual-emphasis on the prediction of perpetration and victimization, as well as an analysis of both relations between variables and person-oriented group comparisons combine to make a unique contribution to the growing literature on adolescent partner violence.

ADOLESCENTS COMMUNICATION, CONFLICT STYLES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTIONS WITH PARENTS, PEERS AND ROMANTIC PARTNERS: SIMILARITY, DIFFERENCES AND RELATIONS WITH SATISFACTION

Communication and conflict styles and resolutions are key issues for understanding the dynamics underlying every social relationships. However they are usually investigated separately in different social contexts. In the current study, the similarities and differences of the adolescents’ communication, conflict styles, conflict resolution and satisfaction with parents, best friends and boy/girlfriend were explored. One hundred and three Italian adolescents, aged 15 to 20years, were administered a version of the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS; Barnes, & Olson, 1985). Exploratory principal component analyses, Cronbach’s alpha, Repeated Measures ANOVAs, correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The adolescents use similar levels of open and problem communication, compromise and aggression (conflict styles), intimacy and frustration (conflict resolutions) with father, mother, friends and romantic partners and they are similarly satisfied with their partners. However open communication, compromise and intimacy are more frequent with friends and romantic partners than with the parents. Besides, the strongest predictor of satisfaction is always open communication. However, with the family and the boy/girlfriend the resolution of the conflict is also important, while with the friends the way to manage the conflict is relevant too. Key words: adolescent social partners, communication, conflict, satisfaction.

Clustering of substance use and sexual risk behaviour in adolescence: analysis of two cohort studies

ObjectivesThe authors aimed to examine whether changes in health risk behaviour rates alter the relationships between behaviours during adolescence, by comparing clustering of risk behaviours at different time points.DesignComparison of...

Exploring actor–partner interdependence in family therapy: Whose view (parent or adolescent) best predicts treatment progress?

Predictions of family therapy outcome consistently vary depending on which client rates the alliance. We used the actor-partner interdependence model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) to test the interdependence of parents' and adolescents' ratings of alliance, session depth/value, and improvement-so-far after Sessions 3, 6, and 9. Initial analyses found trivial between-therapists variance; therefore, a 3-level hierarchical model partitioned the variance in these variables into between families, between family members, and between session components. For alliance and session depth, results showed a significant parent actor effect and a significant adolescent partner effect. Specifically, when parents saw a stronger alliance, they also saw the session as more valuable, but when adolescents saw a stronger alliance, their parents saw the session as less valuable. Both the parents' and the adolescents' improvement scores showed significant linear growth over time, and adolescents' alliance ratings were positively associated with their own and their parents' views of therapeutic progress.

The daily lives of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder

This study explores the daily lives, particularly discretionary time, of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We describe the activities and activity partners of adolescents, the factors associated with their discretionary time use, and the impact of time use on their autism symptoms. Mothers of 103 adolescents with an ASD completed two 24-hour time diaries to describe their adolescent's activity participation during the third wave of a longitudinal study. Adolescents with an ASD spent considerable time in discretionary activities, with watching television and using a computer as the most frequent activities. They most frequently spent discretionary time alone or with their mothers. They spent little time engaged in conversations or doing activities with peers. Age, gender, the presence of intellectual disability, severity of autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors, the number of siblings, maternal education, marital status, and family income were associated with adolescent time use. Notably, greater time spent in conversation and reading predicted future decreases in severity of social impairment. The way that adolescents with an ASD spend their free time may have implications for their development and the course of their autism symptoms.

Coercive Forms of Sexual Risk and Associated Violence Perpetrated by Male Partners of Female Adolescents

Partner violence is associated with STDs among female adolescents, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Sexually coercive and deceptive behaviors of male partners that increase female STD risk may be factors in this relationship. A sample of 356 females aged 14-20 who attended adolescent health clinics in Greater Boston between April and December 2006 were assessed for physical and sexual violence perpetrated by male partners and for exposure to sexual risk factors. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between intimate partner violence and standard sexual risk behaviors (e.g., multiple partnerships) and coercive or deceptive sexual risk factors (e.g., coerced condom nonuse). More than two-fifths of the sample had experienced intimate partner violence. In adjusted analyses, adolescents reporting intimate partner violence were more likely than others to report standard sexual risk behaviors--multiple partners, anal sex and unprotected anal sex (odds ratios, 1.7-2.2). They also were more likely to report coercive or deceptive sexual risk factors--partner sexual infidelity, fear of requesting condom use, negative consequences of condom request, and coerced condom nonuse (2.9-5.3). The high prevalence of intimate partner violence against young women attending adolescent clinics strongly indicates the need to target this population for abuse-related interventions. This need is underlined by the observed association between partner violence and sexual risk involving coercion or deception by male partners. Clinic-based STD and pregnancy prevention efforts should include assessment of sexual risk factors that are beyond the control of young women, particularly for those experiencing abuse.

In Love or In Trouble: Examining Ways Court Professionals Can Better Respond to Victims of Adolescent Partner Violence

ABSTRACTThis article explores adolescent partner violence and the responses to it from the legal system. Research suggests that as many as 45% of high school students have experienced some form of adolescent partner violence. Despite these findings, the legal response to domestic violence has focused on assisting adult victims and has often excluded adolescents. This article examines the innovative approaches of two of the country's first adolescent‐oriented domestic violence courts and uses the lessons learned from these courts and the research to suggest a larger role court professionals can play in responding to adolescent partner violence.

Adolescent Sex Partner Compromise and Association with STI Risk Behaviors

Adolescent Sex Partner Compromise and Association with STI Risk Behaviors

Depressive Symptoms and Resilience among Pregnant Adolescents: A Case‐Control Study

Background. Data regarding depression and resilience among adolescents is still lacking. Objective. To assess depressive symptoms and resilience among pregnant adolescents. Method. Depressive symptoms and resilience were assessed using two validated inventories, the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CESD-10) and the 14-item Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS), respectively. A case-control approach was used to compare differences between adolescents and adults. Results. A total of 302 pregnant women were enrolled in the study, 151 assigned to each group. Overall, 56.6% of gravids presented total CESD-10 scores 10 or more indicating depressed mood. Despite this, total CESD-10 scores and depressed mood rate did not differ among studied groups. Adolescents did however display lower resilience reflected by lower total RS scores and a higher rate of scores below the calculated median (P < .05). Logistic regression analysis could not establish any risk factor for depressed mood among studied subjects; however, having an adolescent partner (OR, 2.0 CI 95% 1.06–4.0, P = .03) and a preterm delivery (OR, 3.0 CI 95% 1.43–6.55, P = .004) related to a higher risk for lower resilience. Conclusion. In light of the findings of the present study, programs oriented at giving adolescents support before, during, and after pregnancy should be encouraged.

The Effect of Cumulative Risk on Paternal Engagement: Examining Differences Among Adolescent and Older Couples

This study examined the association between fathers’ and mothers’ risk factors and paternal engagement 1 and 3 years postbirth. Distinguishing between new and persistent risk factors, we tested whether cumulative risk has unique effects on couples where one or both parents are adolescents at birth. Results indicated that although fathers’ and mothers’ risk factors affected levels of paternal engagement with 1-year-olds, these effects did not differ among couples with at least one adolescent and older couples. However, when the child was 3, fathers’ risk factors were stronger predictors of decreased engagement for couples with at least one adolescent partner, but mothers’ risk factors increased engagement only for adolescent fathers with older mothers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Risk Factors, Knowledge, and Attitudes as Predictors of Intent to Use Condoms among Minority Female Adolescents Attending Family Planning Clinics

The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors, knowledge, and attitudes as predictors of intent to use condoms among 290 minority female adolescents who attended family planning clinics. Data on demographic characteristics and risk behaviors such as drug use, school attendance, and contraceptive use were gathered. The results indicated that slightly over half of the teens intended to use condoms at the next intercourse. Overall knowledge about HIV/AIDS and STDs was poor and was not a predictor of intent to use condoms. Teens who intended to use condoms had more favorable attitudes about condom use and a better sense of self-protection regardless of partner feelings or beliefs. These findings suggest that program planners need to be aware that inconsistencies between knowledge and the behaviors of teens exist and this must be viewed within the teens' cultural milieu. Condom use and sex education should become a collaborative endeavor among teens, parents, and partners of female adolescents.

Longitudinal Predictors of Change in Number of Sexual Partners across Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Although sexual risk behavior has negative consequences in adolescence and early adulthood, little is known about pathways of sexual risk across development and their correlates. Study goals were to examine trajectories of number of sexual partners across adolescence and into early adulthood, and to investigate hypothesized individual and family-level predictors. A subset of 8,707 white, black, and Mexican American participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reported on their motivations to have sex, family warmth, and perceptions of maternal attitudes about sex at Wave 1 and on their sexual relationships at each year of age across the three waves of the study. Multilevel growth curves of number of sexual partners between ages 11 and 27 showed increases in sexual risk across adolescence and deceleration in early adulthood, but differed somewhat as a function of demographic characteristics. As expected, adolescent motivations to have sex and perceptions of permissive maternal attitudes about sex predicted more sexual partners in adolescence, whereas family warmth predicted fewer sexual partners across gender and racial/ethnic groups. Predictors did not differentiate youth as strongly in early adulthood. Interactions between predictors supported a cumulative risk framework, such that perceived permissive maternal attitudes or low family warmth combined with high adolescent motivations to have sex predicted the highest number of sexual partners in adolescence. This study advances our understanding of change in sexual behavior across development and the individual and contextual correlates of such change. Findings document the cumulative implications of individual cognitions, family experiences, and social contexts for adolescent and young adult sexual experiences.

Continuity of adolescent and early adult partner violence victimisation: association with witnessing violent crime in adolescence

Background:Although exposure to peer and family violence is a documented risk factor for adolescent dating violence, less is known about the relationship between violent crime exposure and dating violence victimisation.Methods:Participants...

Place of death of adolescents and young adults with cancer: First study in a French population

To improve the palliative care and more effectively meet the needs of young patients and their families at the end of life, the authors investigated the place of death of adolescents and young adults treated in their institution and identified some of the factors influencing the choice of place of death. The parents and/or partners of adolescents and young adults (15 to 25 years old) who died at Institut Curie (cancer center) between 2000 and 2003 were contacted. Twenty-one families agreed to participate in the interview between October 2005 and April 2006. Analysis of the interviews comprised a descriptive part and a thematic part. Nineteen out of 21 (90%) families declared that they did not really choose their child's place of death due to lack of time. However, all families said that they preferred the hospital. No family attended a bereavement group after their child's death and only 3 families (14%) consulted a mental health care professional. Thematic analysis showed that representations and beliefs concerning life and death at least partly determined the family's capacity to discuss the place of death with their child. Although progress has been made over recent years in France, there is still considerable room for improvement of palliative care to more effectively meet the needs of young patients and their families at the end of life.

Randomized Study of a Prebirth Coparenting Intervention With Adolescent and Young Fathers*

Abstract: This randomized study tested the effects of 2 prebirth interventions, Minnesota Early Learning Design coparenting and childbirth curricula, on young African American and Hispanic fathers and their adolescent partners (N = 154). The coparenting intervention (n = 44) was associated with changing fathers’ perceptions of their coparenting behavior rather than mothers’ perceptions of the fathers’ behavior compared with the childbirth program (n = 46). Fathers and mothers consistently reported fathers’ improved coparenting behavior when the coparenting intervention was compared with a no‐intervention control group (n = 64). Fathers (regardless of residence) and mothers residing with the father reported higher levels of fathers’ engagement with the infant when the father participated in the coparenting intervention compared with fathers who participated in the childbirth intervention.

Male Partner Pregnancy-Promoting Behaviors and Adolescent Partner Violence: Findings from a Qualitative Study with Adolescent Females

To examine the context of pregnancy and sexual health among adolescent females with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV). This paper reports on a subset of females who described abusive male partners' explicit pregnancy-promoting behaviors (ie, messages and behaviors that led females to believe their partner was actively trying to impregnate them). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 53 sexually active adolescent females, with known history of IPV, about violence, sexual experiences, and related behaviors. Interviews were analyzed using a content analysis approach; 14 interviews in which females reported that partners were actively trying to impregnate them were further analyzed for pregnancy and contraceptive use. Participants (N = 53) were aged 15 to 20 years, with notable minority representation, 21% African American (n = 11) and 38% Latina (n = 20). Over half (n = 31, 58%) had experienced pregnancy. A key finding was that approximately one quarter of participants (26%, n = 14) reported that their abusive male partners were actively trying to get them pregnant. Females' stories revealed that abusive male partners desiring pregnancy manipulated condom use, sabotaged birth control use, and made explicit statements about wanting her to become pregnant. Pregnancy-promoting behaviors of male abusive partners may be one potential mechanism underlying associations between adolescent IPV and pregnancy. These findings suggest that exploring pregnancy intentions and behaviors of partners of sexually active adolescents may help to identify youth experiencing IPV. The frequency of birth control sabotage and explicit attempts to cause pregnancy in adolescent IPV needs to be examined at the population level.

Attachment transfer among Swedish and German adolescents: A prospective longitudinal study

AbstractThis prospective longitudinal study investigated whether and in what way different functions of attachment relationships are transferred from parents to reciprocal relationship partners in adolescence. Furthermore, the impact of nationality, romantic relationship status, and individual differences in perceived attachment history and current attachment orientation on the timing and extent of transfer was examined. Adolescents from Sweden and Germany were studied over a 12‐ to 15‐month time span. As predicted, the transfer generally unfolded in a step‐by‐step process in cross‐sectional analyses. However, the predicted direction of transfer from parents to peers could not be confirmed in the prospective analyses. Adolescents who had formed a romantic relationship between assessments showed a stronger transfer from parents to peers compared to those who had not. German adolescents had transferred to a larger extent at Time Point 1, but Swedish adolescents caught up by Time Point 2. Finally, the combination of an insecure history with mother and high current anxiety was linked to a particularly high degree of prospective attachment transfer, whereas an insecure history with mother combined with high current avoidance predicted a particularly low degree of prospective transfer.

Adolescent partner type experience: Psychosocial and behavioral differences

CONTEXT: Adolescents behave differently with main and casual sexual partners. These differences in behavior may be due to how adolescents perceive main and casual partners, but may also be informed by which types of partners adolescents have had experience with. METHODS: Data were collected in interviews with 276 sexually experienced STD clinic attendees in 1996‐1998. Chisquare tests and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to compare risk and protective variables among groups with different types of partner experience (main only, casual only, main and casual). Post hoc analyses determined differences between pairs of groups. RESULTS: Adolescents with different partner-type experiences evidenced different risk and protective factors. For example, adolescents who had had only main partners perceived a greater risk of contracting STDs from both main and casual partners than those who had had both partner types. Women in the casual-only group were the least likely to have been pregnant. Adolescents who had had main and casual partners intended a significantly shorter delay in initiating sex with a new main partner than did those in the main-only group; they also more strongly intended to have a side partner than did those who had had only main partners. CONCLUSIONS: The design of risk reduction and prevention interventions for at-risk sexually experienced adolescents ought to consider adolescents’ sexual partner-type experiences and tailor messages to capitalize on associated protective factors and address or minimize associated risk factors. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):141‐147

Geocoding adolescent sex partner address information by sex partner type

Geocoding adolescent sex partner address information by sex partner type