The National Prevalence of Adolescent Dating Violence in Canada

Purpose: The national prevalence of adolescent dating violence (ADV) in Canada is currently unknown. This study presents the first nationally representative Canadian data on prevalence and correlates of ADV victimization and perpetration. Methods: This study analyzed data from the 2017/2018 Health-Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) dataset. Youth from all 10 provinces and two territories participated. The analysis sample includes 3,711 participants (mean age 1/4 15.35) in grades 9 and 10 who reported dating experience in the past 12 months. Youth were asked to report on physical, psychological and cyber ADV victimization and perpetration. To explore correlates of ADV, we included grade in school; gender (male, female or non-binary); race/ethnicity; family structure; immigration status; family afflu-ence; food insecurity; and body mass index. Results: We found that over one in three Canadian youth who had dated experienced and/or used ADV in the past 12 months. Specifically, past 12-month ADV victimization prevalence was 11.8% (95% CI: 10.4, 13.0) for physical aggression; 27.8% (25.8, 30.0) for psychological aggression; and 17.5% (15.8, 19.0) for cyber aggression, while perpetration prevalence was 7.3% (6.2, 9.0) for physical aggression; 9.3% (8.0, 11.0) for psychological aggression; and 7.8% (6.7, 9.0) for cyber aggression. Both victimization and perpetration were highest among non-binary youth (as compared to cis-gender males and females). Overall, use and experience of ADV was greatest among youth expe-riencing social marginalization (e.g., poverty). Conclusions: ADV impacts a substantial minority of Canadian youth, and is a serious health problem. ADV prevention programs that focus on root causes of violence (e.g., poverty) are needed. (C) 2021 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

This study provides the first nationally representative Canadian data on the prevalence and correlates of adolescent dating violence (ADV) among youth in grades 9 and 10. The results show that over one in three Canadian youth who had dated experienced and/or used ADV in the past 12 months, with non-binary youth experiencing the highest rates.