Immigration-based disparities in adolescent girls' vulnerability to dating violence.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
Little data exists on dating violence among immigrant adolescents. The present study assessed disparities in experiences of physical and sexual dating violence based on immigrant status and language spoken at home among a large representative sample of adolescent girls.

METHODS:
Data from the 1997-2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (N = 7,970) were analyzed. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted among the full sample and sexually active sub-sample. To further clarify immigration-based effects, separate analyses were conducted within age and racial/ethnic groups.

RESULTS:
Being an immigrant was found to be protective against dating violence (OR 0.77, CI 0.60-0.98), but not among those reporting sexual intercourse. Stratified analyses revealed important differences in these effects based on age and race/ethnicity; only immigrant girls age 16 or older (OR 0.69, CI 0.48-0.99) and Hispanic immigrant girls (ORs 0.39-0.54) reported reduced risk for dating violence as compared to their non-immigrants peers. No differences in vulnerability to dating violence were detected based on immigrant status for Asian, Black, or White adolescents in stratified analyses.

CONCLUSIONS:
The social context of immigration may offer protection regarding adolescent girls' vulnerability to dating violence, but effects are not uniform across age, sexual experience, or race and ethnicity. Additional research is needed to understand how immigration, social behavior, age, race and ethnicity may interact to produce disparities in vulnerability to gender-based violence.

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Author information

Author/s: Silverman, Jay G (JG); Decker, Michele R (MR); Raj, Anita (A);

Affiliation: Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. jsilverm(-atsign-)hsph.harvard.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Maternal and child health journal (Matern Child Health J), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jan; vol 11 (issue 1) : pp 37-43

Dates: Created 2007/01/05; Completed 2007/06/05;

PMID: 16845589, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - ethnology
African Americans - statistics & numerical data
Asian Americans - statistics & numerical data
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Courtship - ethnology
Emigration and Immigration - statistics & numerical data
European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data
Female
Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data

Humans
Logistic Models
Massachusetts - epidemiology
Questionnaires
Risk Factors
Risk-Taking
Sex Offenses - ethnology; statistics & numerical data
Sexual Behavior - ethnology; statistics & numerical data
Social Values - ethnology
Violence - ethnology; statistics & numerical data

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