Measuring Teen Dating Violence in Males and Females: Insights From the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence

Objective: To assess the impact of different operationalizations of teen dating violence (TDV) on rates and gender patterns by incorporating sexual victimization, injury, and fear data into TDV scores. We also compare gender differences in fear reports for TDV with other victimization types. Method: Youth aged 12 to 17 (n = 1,680) were interviewed by telephone for the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence. Results: Depending on the inclusion criteria applied, the overall TDV rate varied from 1.4% to 7.5%. Rates for female youth ranged from 1.9% for injurious violence to a high of 6.3% for any report of physical or sexual force. Rates for male youth ranged from a low of 1.0% for injurious violence to a high of 8.6% for any report of physical or sexual force. Although the most common TDV operationalization, any physical force, resulted in a higher rate of male (7.9%) than female (4.5%) victimization, most other definitions resulted in a higher rate for females than males. TDV defined as any sexual, physically injurious, or fear-inducing incidents produced a female victimization rate of 5.1% and a male victimization rate of 3.1%. Fear reports to TDV incidents showed the largest gender difference in the entire National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence. Many other victimization types were viewed as similarly fear-inducing by males and females. Conclusions: IPV research would benefit from a greater diversity of approaches to operationalization and measurement. The use of screeners plus follow-ups is one practical alternative that obtains more incident details. TDV may be more difficult to assess in gender-equivalent ways than other forms of youth victimization.