Psychosocial factors associated with reports of physical dating violence victimization among U.S. adolescent males.

The present study, based upon the national 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of U.S. high school students, provides the most current and representative data on physical dating violence among adolescent males (N = 6,528) The dependent variable was physical dating violence. The independent variables included four dimensions: violence, suicide, subtance use, and sexual risk behavior. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were examined followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses, which included all significant independent variables from the bivariate analyses. Adjusted OR and 95% CI were computed to assess the significance of the relationships. In terms of prevalence, 10.0% of male adolescents reported experiencing physical dating violence. Boys who reported sad/hopeless feelings (OR = 2.42), physical fighting (OR = 1.92), gun carrying (OR = 1.80), recent sexual partners (OR = 2.84), or unprotected sexual intercourse (OR = 1.81), were more likely to report physical dating violence. These findings suggest that dating violence against adolescent males is sufficiently widespread and clusters with other risk factors, and that further research and intervention efforts be directed toward better understanding and preventing both male victimization and its psychosocial sequalae.