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Risky Lifestyle as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Deviant Peer Affiliation and Dating Violence Victimization Among Adolescent Girls

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Few studies have explored the possible contribution of the peer group to dating violence victimization. The current study tested the hypothesis that a risky lifestyle would mediate the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and dating violence victimization among adolescent girls. The proposed mediation model was derived from lifestyles and routine activities theories. A sample of 550 girls (mean age = 15) drawn from a larger representative community sample in Quebec, Canada, completed a questionnaire on three forms of dating violence victimization (psychological, physical, and sexual). Results revealed that girls with a higher level of affiliation with deviant peers were more likely to endorse a risky lifestyle and reported higher rates of all forms of dating violence victimization. Further analyses showed that, while deviant peer affiliation is associated with dating violence victimization, this relationship may be explained, at least partially for psychological violence, and completely for physical/sexual violence, by the girls’ own risky lifestyle. Future preventive interventions for adolescent dating violence victimization should target deviant peer groups, as well as adolescent girls who display a risky lifestyle.

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Acknowledgments

The first author was supported by doctoral scholarships from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les problèmes conjugaux et les agressions sexuelles (CRIPCAS) and the Centre interdisciplinaire sur la violence familiale et la violence faite aux femmes (CRI-VIFF). This research was made possible by grants from the National Health Research Development Program (NHRDP) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and from the Fonds Concertés pour l’Aide à la Recherche (FCAR) and the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale (CQRS) of Quebec. The authors thank Hélène Beauchesne and Lyse Desmarais-Gervais for project administration and data collection coordination, and Muriel Rorive and Nathalie Fréchette for data management. We wish to thank the adolescents and parents who participated in the study and the authorities and directors of the Montreal School Board as well as the participating teachers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Johanne Vézina & François Poulin

  2. Département de Sexologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Martine Hébert

  3. École de Psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    Francine Lavoie

  4. Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Frank Vitaro & Richard E. Tremblay

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  1. Johanne Vézina
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  2. Martine Hébert
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  3. François Poulin
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  4. Francine Lavoie
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  5. Frank Vitaro
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  6. Richard E. Tremblay
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Correspondence to Johanne Vézina.

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Vézina, J., Hébert, M., Poulin, F. et al. Risky Lifestyle as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Deviant Peer Affiliation and Dating Violence Victimization Among Adolescent Girls. J Youth Adolescence 40, 814–824 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9602-x

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