Dating It Safe: Understanding Dating Violence through a 15-Year Longitudinal Study

Dating and intimate partner violence are pressing public health issues with long-lasting physical, mental, social, and economic consequences. Despite repeated cross-sectional documentation of the impact of partner violence in the lives of teens and emerging adults, few longitudinal studies have examined the course, consequences, and causal links between dating violence and health. Dating it Safe (DIS), with 15 years (2010-2025) of longitudinal data collection, is one of the longest running studies on dating violence victimization and perpetration. Using content analysis of published papers, we present the study’s major findings. Methods. DIS began in 2010 with 1042 high school students (mean age=15) recruited from 7 urban/suburban schools in southeast Texas. Using behaviorally specific and validated measures, we surveyed participants annually as they transitioned from adolescence into adulthood. We conducted a content analysis of the 70 peer-reviewed papers (by 94 unique authors) resulting from the DIS data set. We were especially focused on assessing the risk and protective factors for dating violence victimization and perpetration, as well as the short and long-term health and mental health outcomes. Findings. Participants were racially, ethnically and economically diverse and slight majority female (n=56%). Between 70-92% retention was achieved at each waves. First incidents of victimization peaked around age 20. Content analysis revealed long-term health impacts of teen dating violence perpetration including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and hostility. Dating violence victimization was associated with poor sleep, risky sexual behavior, depression, and PTSD. Gender, race, and ethnicity were inconsistent predictors of victimization in adolescence. While some risk factors were developmentally bound (e.g. peer influence, being a parent) others remain salient into adulthood (e.g. childhood exposure, PTSD). As the cohort ages, family and couple factors have become risk and protective factors for revictimization and perpetration. Conclusion: As the DIS cohort reaches age 30, results from the first 15 years of the study underscore the urgent need for longitudinal studies on dating violence that span developmental periods due to the changing nature of risk and protective factors. We highlight critical next steps, including dyadic and multigenerational analysis.