The Influence of Peer Support for Violence and Peer Acceptance of Rape Myths on Multiple Forms of Interpersonal Violence Among Youth

Significant work has highlighted the associations among physical dating violence, bullying perpetrated in person, and cyberbullying. Yet these experiences are most often examined in isolation. The present study adds to the literature by testing the hypothesis that peer factors (e.g., perceived peer support for sexual violence and perceived peer endorsement of rape myths) display associations with three forms of aggression (physical dating violence perpetration, perpetration of bullying in-person, and cyberbullying perpetration). A sample of 2,830 10th-grade youth, recruited across 27 high schools in the northeast region of the United States, completed self-report surveys assessing peer context and the perpetration of violence. To examine the potential shared risk of peer approval for sexual violence and peer endorsement of rape myths and multiple forms of violence, a multivariate extension to multilevel models (MLMs) was used. Findings suggested that as hypothesized both peer support for sexual violence and perceptions of peer endorsement of rape myths each made a significant contribution in association with dating aggression perpetration, in person bullying, as well as cyberbullying. Findings offer insight into the development of aggression in adolescence and highlight the necessity of unified research examining multiple domains together. Discussion also underscores the potential benefits of targeting peer context and perceptions of peer norms through cross-cutting prevention programming for adolescents.