Multiple studies have demonstrated that adolescent dating violence is highly prevalent and is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. A number of prevention initiatives are being implemented in North American high schools. Such initiatives aim to raise awareness among potential victims and offenders, and also among peer bystanders. As teenagers mainly reach out to their peers when experiencing adversity, it is important to address adolescents’ efficacy in dealing with witnessing dating violence or with friends disclosing dating abuse, in addition to increasing their ability to deal with experienced dating violence victimization or perpetration. The aim of this study is to explore adolescents’ self-efficacy to deal with dating violence victimization and perpetration in their relationships and those of their peers. A paper-and-pencil questionnaire was completed by 259 14−18-year-olds in Quebec, Canada. The data allow building insight into adolescents’ confidence to reach out for help or to help others in a situation of dating violence victimization and perpetration. We also considered the impact of gender and dating victimization history. Results suggest that dating violence prevention can build on teens’ self-efficacy to deal with dating violence and offer them tools to do so efficiently.
AhrensCECampbellR (2000) Assisting rape victims as they recover from rape: The impact on friends. Journal of Interpersonal Violence15(9): 959−986.
2.
AntleBASullivanDJDrydenAKaramEABarbeeAP (2011) Healthy relationship education for dating violence prevention among high-risk youth. Children and Youth Services Review33(1): 173−179.
3.
AshleyOSFosheeVA (2005) Adolescent help-seeking for dating violence: Prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and sources of help. Journal of Adolescent Health36(1): 25−31.
4.
BanduraA (2001) Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology52: 1−26.
5.
BanduraACapraraGVBarbaranelliCGerbinoMPastorelliC (2003) Role of affective self-regulatory efficacy in diverse spheres of psychological functioning. Child Development74(3): 769−782.
6.
BanyardVL (2008) Measurement and correlates of prosocial bystander behavior: The case of interpersonal violence. Violence and Victims23(1): 83−97.
7.
BanyardVL (2011) Who will help prevent sexual violence: Creating an ecological model of bystander intervention. Psychology of Violence1(3): 216−229.
8.
BanyardVLMoynihanMMPlanteEG (2004) Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention. Journal of Community Psychology32(1): 61−79.
9.
BanyardVLMoynihanMMWalshWACohnESWardS (2010) Friends of survivors: The community impact of unwanted sexual experiences. Journal of Interpersonal Violence25(2): 242−256.
10.
BarterC (2009) In the name of love: Partner abuse and violence in teenage relationships. British Journal of Social Work39(2): 211−233.
11.
BeebleMLPostLABybeeDSullivanCM (2008) Factors related to willingness to help survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence23(12): 1713−1729.
12.
BélangerJJanoszMArchambaultIRiberdyH (2010) Portrait de la violence dans les écoles secondaires montréalaises: enjeux pour l’éducation à la santé. Revue des sciences de l’éducation36(3): 649−669.
13.
BlackBMTolmanRMCallahanMSaundersDGWeiszAN (2008) When will adolescents tell someone about dating violence victimization?Violence Against Women14(7): 741−758.
14.
BrenerNDKannLMcManusTKinchenSASundbergECRossJG (2002) Reliability of the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire. Journal of Adolescent Health31(4): 336−342.
15.
BrownALMessman-MooreTL (2010) Personal and perceived peer attitudes supporting sexual aggression as predictors of male college students’ willingness to intervene against sexual aggression. Journal of Interpersonal Violence25(3): 503−517.
16.
CameronCAByersESMillerSA. (2007) Dating Violence Prevention in New Brunswick. Fredericton: Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research.
17.
CaseyEAOhlerK (2012) Being a positive bystander: Male antiviolence allies’ experiences of ‘stepping up’. Journal of Interpersonal Violence27(1): 62−83.
18.
CecilHMatsonSC (2006) Sexual victimization among African American adolescent females. Examination of the reliability and validity of the sexual experiences survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence21(1): 89−204.
19.
CollinsWA (2003) More than a myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence13(1): 1−24.
20.
ConnerMArmitageCJ (1998) Extending the theory of planned behavior: A review and avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Social Psychology28(15): 1429−1464.
21.
CookeRSniehottaFSchüzB (2007) Predicting binge-drinking behaviour using an extended TPB: Examining the impact of anticipated regret and descriptive norms. Alcohol and Alcoholism42(2): 84−91.
22.
CrismaMBascelliEPaciDRomitoP (2004) Adolescents who experienced sexual abuse: Fears, needs and impediments to disclosure. Child Abuse and Neglect28(10): 1035−1048.
23.
DarkeS (1998) Self-report among injecting drug users: A review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence51(3): 253−263.
24.
Del BocaFKNollJA (2000) Truth or consequences: The validity of self-report data in health services research in addictions. Addiction95(Suppl. 3): S347−S360.
25.
DennistonMMBrenerNDKannL. (2010) Comparison of paper-and-pencil versus Web administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Participation, data quality, and perceived privacy and anonymity. Computers in Human Behavior26(5): 1054−1060.
26.
EaglyAHCrowleyM (1986) Gender and helping behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature. Psychological Bulletin100(3): 283−308.
FishbeinMAjzenI (2010) Predicting and Changing Behavior. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
29.
FosheeVAMcNaughton ReyesHL (2011) Dating abuse: Prevalence, consequences, and predictors. In: Bradford BrownBPrinsteinMJ (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Normative Processes in Development. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 602−615.
30.
FosheeVABaumanKELinderGFRiceJWilcherR (2007) Typologies of adolescent dating violence: Identifying typologies of adolescent dating violence perpetration. Journal of Interpersonal Violence22(5): 498−519.
31.
FoubertJDLanghinrichsen-RohlingJBrasfieldHHillB (2010) Effects of a rape awareness program on college women: Increasing bystander efficacy and willingness to intervene. Journal of Community Psychology38(7): 813−827.
32.
Frasier ChabotHTracyTLManningCAPoissonCA (2009) Sex, attribution, and severity influence intervention decisions of informal helpers in domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence24(10): 1696−1713.
33.
GeigerBFischerMSWEshetY (2008) Unwanted sexual activities among high-school students: Are males also victims?Journal International de Victimologie6(2).
34.
GidyczCAOrchowskiLMBerkowitzAD (2011) Preventing sexual aggression among college men: An evaluation of a social norms and bystander intervention program. Violence Against Women17(6): 720−742.
35.
GiniGAlbieroPBenelliBAltoèG (2008) Determinants of adolescents’ active defending and passive bystanding behavior in bullying. Journal of Adolescence31(1): 93−105.
36.
HébertMDaigneaultIVan CampT (2012) Agression sexuelle et risque de revictimisation à l’adolescence: Modèles conceptuels et défis liés à la prévention. In: HébertMCyrMTourignyM (eds) L’agression sexuelle envers les enfants. Tome II. Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 171−223.
37.
HentonJCateRKovalJLloydSChristopherS (1983) Romance and violence in dating relationships. Journal of Family Issues4(3): 467−482.
38.
JacksonSMCramFSeymourFW (2000) Violence and sexual coercion in high school students’ dating relationships. Journal of Family Violence15(1): 23−36.
39.
JaffePGSudermanMReitzelDKillipSM (1992) An evaluation of a secondary school primary prevention program on violence in intimate relationships. Violence and Victims7(2): 129−146.
40.
KaestleCEHalpernCT (2005) Sexual intercourse precedes partner violence in adolescent romantic relationships. Journal of Adolescent Health36(5): 386−392.
41.
KaiserHK (1974) An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika39(1): 31−36.
42.
KhouzamCMarchandAGuayS (2007) Impact du moment du dévoilement d’une agression sexuelle perpétrée par un tiers sur certains aspects affectifs et relationnels des victimes adultes. Santé mentale au Québec32(1): 115−136.
43.
KoganSM (2004) Disclosing unwanted sexual experiences: Results from a national sample of adolescent women. Child Abuse and Neglect28(2): 147−165.
44.
KossMPGidyczCA (1985) Sexual experiences survey: Reliability and validity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology53(3): 422−423.
45.
KossMPOrosCJ (1982) Sexual experiences survey: A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology50(3): 455−457.
LatanéBDarleyJM (1969) Bystander ‘apathy’. American Scientist57(2): 244−268.
48.
LevineM (1999) Rethinking bystander nonintervention: Social categorization and the evidence of witnesses at the James Bulger murder trial. Human Relations52(9): 1133−1155.
49.
LavoieFVézinaL (2002) Violence dans les relations amoureuses à l'adolescence. In: santéCollection labien-êtreet le (ed.) Enquête sociale et de santé auprès des enfants et des adolescents québécois1999. Ste-Foy: Les Publications du Québec, 471−484.
50.
LavoieFPacaudM-CRoyMLebosséC (2007) PASSAJ: An awareness and prevention program for teens (16−17 years old) focusing on abuse in dating relationships and sexual harassment. Sainte-Foy: Université Laval.
51.
LavoieFHébertMBeaulieu-DenaultO (2012) Pour des relations amoureuses harmonieuses à l’adolescence: un bilan des approches en prévention. Les Cahiers de PV (8): 40−48.
52.
McMahonSBanyardVL (2012) When can I help? A conceptual framework for the prevention of sexual violence through bystander intervention. Trauma, Violence and Abuse13(1): 3−14.
53.
MillerETancrediDJMcCauleyHL. (2012) ‘Coaching boys into men’: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a dating violence prevention program. Journal of Adolescent Health51(5): 431−438.
54.
MolidorCTolmanRM (1998) Gender and contextual factors in adolescent dating violence. Violence Against Women4(2): 180−194.
55.
NoonanRKCharlesD (2009) Developing teen dating violence prevention strategies: Formative research with middle school youth. Violence Against Women15(9): 1087−1105.
56.
O’KeefeM (1997) Predictors of dating violence among high school students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence12(4): 546−568.
57.
PoitrasMLavoieF (1995) A study of the prevalence of sexual coercion in adolescent heterosexual dating relationships in a Quebec sample. Violence and Victims10(4): 299−313.
58.
RichardRDe VriesNVan der PligtJ (1998) Anticipated regret and precautionary sexual behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology28(15): 1411−1428.
59.
RosenblattJAFurlongMJ (1997) Assessing the reliability and validity of student self-reports of campus violence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence26(2): 187−202.
60.
SearsHAByersSWhelanJJSaint-PierreM (2006) ‘If it hurts you, then it is not a joke’: Adolescents’ ideas about girls’ and boys’ use and experience of abusive behavior in dating relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence21(9): 1191−1207.
61.
ShaplandJHallM (2007) What do we know about the effects of crime on victims?International Review of Victimology14(2): 175−217.
62.
ShoreyRCZucoskyHBrasfieldH (2012) Dating violence prevention programming: Directions for future intervention. Aggression and Violent Behavior17(4): 289−293.
63.
SmithDWLetourneauEJSaundersBEKilpatrickDGResnickHSBestCL (2000) Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: Results from a national survey. Child Abuse and Neglect24(2): 273−287.
64.
Tucker HalpernCOslakSGYoungMLMartinSLKupperLL (2001) Opposite-sex romantic relationships: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. American Journal of Public Health91(10): 1679−1685.
65.
Van CampTWemmersJA (forthcoming) Victim satisfaction with restorative justice: More than simply procedural justice. International Review of Victimology.
66.
Van DijkJJM (2006) The mark of Abel: Reflections on the social labeling of victims of crime. Lecture delivered on the occasion of the official acceptance of the Pieter van Vollenhoven Chair in Victimology. Human Security and Safety Conference, Tilburg, November 2006.
67.
Van DijkJJMVan KesterenJNSmitP (2007) Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective: Key Findings from the 2004−2005 ICVS and EU ICS. The Hague: Boom Legal Publishers.
68.
VollhardtJR (2009) Altruism born of suffering and prosocial behavior following adverse life events: A review and conceptualization. Social Justice Research22(1): 53−97.
69.
VynckierG (2012) Mid-adolescent victims: (Un)willing for help?International Review of Victimology18(2): 109−132.
70.
Warner StidhamADrauckerCBMartsolfDSPaisley MullenL (2012) Altruism in survivors of sexual violence: The typology of helping others. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association18(3): 146−155.
71.
WeiszANTolmanRMCallahanMRSaundersDGBlackBM (2007) Informal helpers’ responses when adolescents tell them about dating violence or romantic relationship problems. Journal of Adolescence30(5): 853−868.
72.
WekerleCLeungEWallA-M (2009) The contribution of childhood emotional abuse to teen dating violence among child protective services-involved youth. Child Abuse and Neglect33(1): 45−58.
73.
WolfeDAScottKReitzel-JaffeDWekerleCGrasleyCStraatmanA-L (2001) Development and validation of the conflict in adolescent dating relationships inventory. Psychological Assessment13(2): 277−293.
