Psychiatric and Cognitive Functioning in Adolescent Inpatients with Histories of Dating Violence Victimization

Abstract

The presence of dating violence victimization as well as its relation to psychiatric diagnosis and cognitive processes was examined in a sample of 155 adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric facility. Participants and their parents completed semi-structured diagnostic interviews. Participants also completed self-report measures of dating violence victimization and cognitive functioning. Seventy-seven percent of adolescents who had initiated dating reported psychological, physical, and/ or sexual abuse by a dating partner over the past year. Victims of psychological abuse alone as well as physical and/or sexual violence endorsed higher rates of major depressive disorder compared to non-victims. Physical/sexual dating violence victims also endorsed significantly higher rates of PTSD and alcohol use disorders, more frequent co-occurrence of externalizing and internalizing disorders, and more frequent negative cognitive biases, relative to non-victimized adolescents. Findings suggest that psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents with dating violence histories represent a subgroup of adolescent inpatients with a particularly serious clinical picture. KeywordsDating Violence; Adolescents; Psychiatric Disorders Adolescent dating violence has increasingly become the focus of clinical and research attention during the past two decades. The emerging picture is that it is highly prevalent, associated with negative psychological consequences, and represents a major public health problem. To date, the research that has been conducted on dating violence victimization has predominantly focused on community samples of youth. Rates of victimization among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents, a group known to have high rates of a range of adversities (Cohen et al., 1996;Hart, Mader, Griffith, & deMendonea, 1989) (Howard & Wang, 2003a,b), suicidality (Ackard et al., 2007;Ackard & Neumark-Sztainer, 2002; Howard & Wang, 2003a,b;Olshen, McVeigh, Wunsch-Hitzig, & Vaughn, 2007;Silverman, Raj, Mucci, & Hathaway, 2001), internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Davila, Steinberg, Kachadourian, Cobb, & Fincham 2004;Zimmer-Gembeck, Siebenbruner, & Collins, 2001), and substance use (Buzy et al., 2004;Silverman et al., 2001) among community based and epidemiologic samples. Only a few empirical studies have systematically investigated the relation between this type of violence and rates of DSM-IV based mental health disorders using well validated diagnostic interviews. One longitudinal community based investigation revealed that young womens' abusive relationships during adolescence increased risk for major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance dependence at age 26, even when controlling for these disorders at age 18 (Ehrensaft, Moffitt, & Caspi, 2006). In a national epidemiologic sample of adolescents, dating violence victimization was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive episodes after controlling for demographic variables, other traumatic stressors, and stress...

Dating Violence Victimization, Dispositional Aggression, and Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury among Psychiatrically Hospitalized Male and Female Adolescents

“…Rates may be even higher in clinical samples (e.g., youth with conduct/oppositional defiant disorders), as these adolescents may select aggressive dating partners (Kim & Capaldi, ). Indeed, as shown in our previous work with this sample of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents, 77% of teens who had initiated dating reported psychological, physical, or sexual abuse by a dating partner over the past year (Rizzo, Esposito‐Smythers, Spirito, & Thompson, ).…”

Professional Help-Seeking for Adolescent Dating Violence in the Rural South: The Role of Social Support and Informal Help-Seeking

“…Unfortunately, studies show that psychological violence is predictive of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and illegal drug use (Baldry, 2003; Straight, Harper, & Arias, 2003). In addition, evidence suggests that psychological violence often leads to physical violence (Henning & Klesges, 2003), and psychological violence may have a greater impact on mental health than other forms of violence (Exner-Cortens et al, 2013; Rizzo, Esposito-Smythers, Spirto, & Thompson, 2010). …”

Adolescent Dating Violence: A National Assessment of School Counselors’ Perceptions and Practices

“…ADV also involves sexual assault and may be associated with unsafe sexual behaviors that can lead to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV infections and to unintended teen pregnancies. 5,8,[15][16][17][18] Dating violence can usually be prevented. [19][20][21] Because substantial amounts of socialization among adolescents occur in the school setting where adolescents spend almost one-third of their daily time, school counselors can possibly play a central role in identifying and intervening in ADV.…”