10-year trends in physical dating violence victimization among U.S. adolescent males

This study provides 10-year trend data on the psychosocial correlates of physical dating violence victimization (PDV) among male participants (N = 7,949 in 2009) in the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from 1999-2009. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were examined followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses, which included all significant independent variables from the univariate analyses. Adjusted OR and 95% CI assessed the significance of the relationships. PDV was significantly and consistently associated with feelings of sadness or hopelessness, repeated engagement in physical fighting, current and multiple sex partners, and lack of condom use. A less consistent but noteworthy pattern was found for PDV and gun carrying and cocaine use among adolescent males. PDV is an important public health issue for adolescent males, not just females. There appears to be a set of stable correlates of dating violence victimization among high school males in the United States.