Boarding Schools for Girls

About three percent of teenaged girls experience physical or sexual assault from boyfriends or on dates, according to a new study from the Medical University of South Carolina. The abuse rate is probably higher, experts believe, because the researchers did not look into verbal abuse and less serious assaults such as slapping and shoving.

Dr. Kate Wolitzky-Taylor and her colleagues interviewed a national sample of both boys and girls ages 12 to 17 years old, and found that 2.7 of girls and 0.6 of boys had been victims of dating violence, including being threatened with a weapon and physical or sexual assault. The victims had four times the risk of post-traumatic stress syndrome or depression.

Teens with histories of trauma - such as loss of a parent or witnessing violence at home - were at greater risk for being victims of dating violence. Older teen girls were more likely to experience dating violence than younger teens.

This study appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Labels: violence, dating, rape

Posted By: Aspen Education Group