Study examines prevalence of dating violence in Canadian youth

Calgary — A study out of the University of Calgary that looked into the prevalence of violence in adolescent relationships in Canadian youth has found that one-in-three youth experienced dating violence in the past 12 months.

The study, conducted by Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens from the University of Calgary’s Psychology Department in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Baker and Dr. Wendy Craig from Queen’s University’s Psychology Department, presented national data on adolescent dating violence (ADV) in Canada.

Researchers say incidents of ADV are rarely reported to police and define it as "aggressions such as physical, sexual, psychological, stalking, and cyber dating abuse, as experienced in early and mid-adolescent dating relationships."

The research used data from a national survey (the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children, or HBSC, study) and more than 3,700 youth in Grades 9 and 10, who reported ADV over the past year, were asked about incidents where they were the victim and/or perpetrator.

"Our findings confirmed what we suspected. Over one in three youth experience ADV, and ADV is a serious health problem. It’s important that we continue to develop and institute ADV prevention programs," said Dr. Exner-Cortens in a release.

The study showed that victimization and perpetration were highest among non-binary youth, compared to cisgender males and females, and overall, was highest among youth experiencing poverty.

The authors of the study say the findings highlight the importance of prevention programs that focus on the root causes of violence and providing resources for youth like social-emotional learning curriculum in the elementary grades and healthy relationships programming in junior and senior high schools, which are currently in place.

The study concluded that ADV is a serious health problem among Canadian youth and that community-based prevention and intervention programs are the key to stopping the cycle.

"Consultation with communities is essential to addressing violence where it happens. Current curriculum that includes social emotional education is a good start to preventing violence before it occurs. We’ve come a long way, but we also know we need annual data collection and more resources for marginalized groups," said Dr. Exner-Cortens in the statement.

The findings also support programming that is being implemented by the national Youth Dating Violence Prevention Community of Practice and community programs like WiseGuyz, in Calgary.

The study was published online March 21, 2021, in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Read the full study  here.

(The analysis sample includes 3,711 participants (mean age = 15.35) in grades 9 and 10 who reported dating experience in the past 12 months.)