Development of a New Measure of Adolescent Dating Aggression (ADA): National Norms with a Focus on Marginalized Youth, United States, 2019-2020 (ICPSR 37664)

Version Date: Mar 30, 2023

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Principal Investigator(s):
Emily F. Rothman, Boston University. School of Public Health; Carlos A. Cuevas, Northeastern University; Bruce G. Taylor, National Opinion Research Center; Elizabeth A. Mumford, National Opinion Research Center

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37664.v1

Version V1

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Summary

This study collection was formed from two distinct data collection periods and respondent samples to test and validate a newly formed measure regarding adolescent dating abuse (ADA). The new measure named MARSHA (Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse) reflects ADA from the both the perspectives of victim and perpetrator through the use of 39 pairs of questions on the topics of physical, sexual, emotional, and cyber abuse. The hope for this study was to allow researchers, clinicians, and practitioners, in a wide variety of settings and for multiple purposes, ability to assess the prevalence of ADA in a nation, state or neighborhood; conducting etiological research on ADA; evaluating ADA prevention programs; or screening youth for ADA in clinical or criminal justice settings.

Citation

Rothman, Emily F., Cuevas, Carlos A., Taylor, Bruce G., and Mumford, Elizabeth A. Development of a New Measure of Adolescent Dating Aggression (ADA): National Norms with a Focus on Marginalized Youth, United States, 2019-2020. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-03-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37664.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2016-IJ-CX-0006)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

State

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2019-02 -- 2020-12

Date of Collection

2019-02-26 -- 2019-09-29, 2020-06-15 -- 2020-12-15

Data Collection Notes

  1. This data collection represents what the Principal Investigators called Study 2 (DS1) and Study 3 (DS2). Not included as part of this collection is what they refer to as "Study 1". That was a qualitative, focus group, study involving 48 youth designed to generate information about how specific sub-groups of youth perceived ADA acts in order to further the development of Study 2 and 3.

  2. The acronym ADA can stand for "adolescent dating aggression" like it is used in the title for this study collection. But ADA can also stand for "adolescent dating abuse". The Principal Investigators use both meanings in their documentation.

  3. The same MARSHA (Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse) scale is used in both data files. The respondents in each of the files are completely different from one another.

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Study Purpose

The overarching goal of this project was to improve available options for assessing and measuring ADA in United States youth aged 11-21 years old, for both researchers and for practitioners. Additional study aims were to:

  • To establish which acts of ADA historically marginalized youth, including Black, Hispanic/Latino/a, Indigenous/Native American, and Multiracial youth, consider important to include on a comprehensive measure of ADA.
  • To establish psychometric properties of a new comprehensive measure of ADA using a population based, nationally representative sample of US youth ages 11 - 21 years old, including evaluating factor structure, reliability, and validity.
  • To determine the sensitivity and specificity of a 3-item MARSHA-C short form of the comprehensive measure that can be used in clinical settings to screen youth for ADA victimization.

Study Design

United States youth aged 11-21 years old completed an anonymous self-report survey. Inclusion criteria were being able to read and write in English, living in the United States, in the desired age group, and in a romantic relationship within the past year. All data were collected online via a self-administered survey.

Sample

For DS1 a sample was selected from NORC's AmeriSpeak Panel to reach adolescents aged 11 to 21 across the United States. To maximize the number of AmeriSpeak respondents, all eligible panelists were selected for invitation to this study. All adult panelists (age 18-21) were invited directly to participate. NORC guidelines require AmeriSpeak to gain parental consent of empaneled teens (age 13-17) for each sensitive topic survey before inviting the teen themselves. To reach the required 11 and 12 year-olds for the study population, and to increase the total number of age 13-21 year-olds invited from AmeriSpeak Panel households, AmeriSpeak reached out to all active panelists who were identified as parents of children age 11-17 (regardless if the child was part of the AmeriSpeak Panel) or living with a not-empaneled age 18-21 year old.

For DS2 study respondents were recruited between May 2020 and December 2020 through flyers posted in the pediatric emergency department at a large urban medical center in the Northeast, through Facebook advertisements, and emailed to undergraduates at a university in an urban setting in the Northeast. Flyers, emails, and online advertisements informed viewers that youth ages 11-21 years old with dating experience had the opportunity to participate in an online survey that would take 10 minutes.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

English speaking adolescents, aged 11-21 years old, with dating experience within the past year living in the United States.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

DS1: (313 variables / 1,257 cases) -

  • demographics (grade, employment status, gender, race, sexual orientation, relationship status, mental health diagnoses)
  • dating and relationship experiences over the past year (6 items)
  • MARSHA scale - 39 pairs (perpetrator and victim) of questions asking the number of times an event occurred over the past year in regards to physical (6 pairs), sexual (6 pairs), emotional (18 pairs), or cyber (9 pairs) abuse
  • CADRI scale of 35 pairs (perpetrator and victim) of questions asking the frequency an event occurred over the past year (70 items)
  • ego resiliency scale (14 items)
  • delinquent behavior over the past year (11 items)
  • anxiety and depression over the past 7 days (8 items each)
  • alcohol and illicit drug use over the past year (10 items)
  • difficulties in emotional regulation (36 items)

DS2: (130 variables / 224 cases) -

  • screening eligibility
  • demographics (age, race, state, gender, sexual orientation, and relationship status)
  • MARSHA scale (except that there were 3 pairs where no victimization question was asked)

Response Rates

The response rate to DS1 was 50.8%.

The response rate to DS2 was 61.5%.

Presence of Common Scales

  • Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA)
  • Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI)
  • Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire
  • Frequency of Delinquency Behavior
  • Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)
  • Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)
  • Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C)
  • Ego Resiliency Scale

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Original Release Date

2023-03-30

Version History

2023-03-30 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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Weight

The post-stratification statistical weight variable WEIGHT1 is present in DS1. There is no weight variable in DS2.

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

NACJD logo

This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.