The Synergy of Family and Neighborhood on Rural Dating Violence Victimization

Introduction: Rural adolescents are at high risk for dating violence victimization (DVV), which has serious negative consequences. Understanding more about the conditions that increase DVV risk for rural adolescents is needed to inform prevention efforts. In response to calls for examining the influence of upper levels of the social ecology on adolescent dating violence, this study examined whether associations between the family context and physical DVV were conditioned by the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which the family resided. Methods: Data were from a multi-wave longitudinal study of 3,236 rural adolescents nested in 65 block groups, which defined neighborhoods. Data were collected between 2003 and 2005. Multilevel growth curve modeling was conducted in 2014 to test hypothesized synergistic effects of the family and neighborhood on trajectories of physical DVV from grade 8 to 12. Results: Low parental closeness was a DVV risk in residentially stable (p < 0.001), but not unstable, neighborhoods. Family aggression was a DVV risk, regardless of neighborhood characteristics (p=0.001). Low parental monitoring and rule setting were not DVV risks and their effects were not moderated by neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood ethnic heterogeneity was significantly (p < 0.05) positively associated with DVV, but neighborhood economic disadvantage, social disorganization, and violence were not associated with DVV. None of the effects varied by sex of the adolescent, across time (grade), or by the combination of sex and time. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the family and neighborhood, and particularly their synergistic effects in efforts to prevent adolescent DVV. (C) 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine