Adolescents exposed to domestic violence are at high risk for dating abuse. This randomized controlled trial evaluated a dating abuse prevention program designed specifically for this risk group. Moms and Teens for Safe Dates consisted of six mailed booklets of dating abuse prevention information and interactive activities. Mothers who had been victims of domestic violence but no longer lived with the abuser delivered the program to their adolescents who had been exposed to the abuse. Mother and adolescent pairs (N = 409) were recruited through community advertising; the adolescents ranged from 12 to 16 years old and 64 % were female. Mothers and adolescents completed baseline and 6-month follow-up telephone interviews. Booklet completion in the treatment group ranged from 80 % for the first to 62 % for the last booklet. The analyses first tested whether program effects on dating abuse varied by four a priori identified moderators (mother's psychological health, the amount of adolescent exposure to domestic violence, and adolescent sex and race/ethnicity). Main effects of the program were examined when there were no differential program effects. Program effects on psychological and physical victimization and psychological and cyber perpetration were moderated by the amount of adolescent exposure to domestic violence; there were significant favorable program effects for adolescents with higher, but not lower levels of exposure to domestic violence. There were no moderated or main effects on sexual violence victimization and perpetration or cyber victimization. The findings suggest that a dating abuse prevention program designed for adolescents exposed to domestic violence can have important positive effects.

Adolescents exposed to domestic violence are at increased risk of dating abuse, yet no evaluated dating abuse prevention programs have been designed specifically for this high-risk population. This article describes the process of adapting Families for Safe Dates (FSD), an evidenced-based universal dating abuse prevention program, to this high-risk population, including conducting 12 focus groups and 107 interviews with the target audience. FSD includes six booklets of dating abuse prevention information, and activities for parents and adolescents to do together at home. We adapted FSD for mothers who were victims of domestic violence, but who no longer lived with the abuser, to do with their adolescents who had been exposed to the violence. Through the adaptation process, we learned that families liked the program structure and valued being offered the program and that some of our initial assumptions about this population were incorrect. We identified practices and beliefs of mother victims and attributes of these adolescents that might increase their risk of dating abuse that we had not previously considered. In addition, we learned that some of the content of the original program generated negative family interactions for some. The findings demonstrate the utility of using a careful process to adapt evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to cultural sub-groups, particularly the importance of obtaining feedback on the program from the target audience. Others can follow this process to adapt EBIs to groups other than the ones for which the original EBI was designed.

Moms and Teens for Safe Dates (MTSD) is a dating abuse (DA) prevention program for teens exposed to domestic violence. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), MTSD prevented certain types of DA victimization (psychological and physical) and perpetration (psychological and cyber) among teens with higher, but not lower, exposure to domestic violence. We built on these findings by using moderated mediation analysis to examine whether level of teen exposure to domestic violence conditioned the indirect effects of MTSD on these types of DA through targeted mediators. MTSD consisted of six mailed activity booklets. Mothers who had been former victims of domestic violence delivered the program to their teens. Mother and teen pairs were recruited into the RCT through community advertising and completed baseline and 6-month follow-up interviews (N = 277 pairs). As expected, MTSD had significant favorable effects for teens with higher but not lower exposure to domestic violence on several mediators that guided program content, including teen conflict management skills and mother-perceived severity of DA, self-efficacy for enacting DA prevention efforts, and comfort in communicating with her teen. MTSD had significant main effects on other mediators including teen feeling of family closeness and cohesion and mother-perceived susceptibility of her teen to DA. As expected, all significant indirect effects of MTSD on DA outcomes through mediators were for teens with higher exposure to domestic violence. Findings have implications for developing DA victimization and perpetration prevention programs for teens with high exposure to domestic violence.

Objective: This paper identifies comorbid factors among female emergency department (ED) patients who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV).Methods: 321 adult female patients completed self-administered questionnaires while in an urban North Carolina emergency department. IPV was assessed by questioning whether the patient had ever been afraid of a partner, physically hurt or threatened by a partner, or forced to have sex by a partner.Results: One third of all female patients reported at least one form of IPV in their lifetimes. IPV was associated with a low self-rating of physical and mental health, frequent visits to the ED, and problems with alcohol, drugs, and mental health. In multivariate analysis, only a history of alcohol and mental health problems and a low self-rating of mental health remained significant.Conclusions: The findings illustrate the need for IPV screening protocols that address mental health and substance abuse and also emphasize the importance of screening all women for IPV.