Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.
JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Aug 1;176(8):797-803. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.1735.
Teen dating violence (TDV) is widespread and has adverse consequences across the life course. Many US states are actively seeking strategies to prevent and address TDV in schools, including enactment and implementation of TDV laws. These state laws are upstream, system-level interventions that lay the foundation for an array of downstream targeted interventions to be deployed in schools. Despite these laws gaining momentum in the past decade, there has been minimal research examining their content and variability.
To assess the content and comprehensiveness of US state laws addressing prevention of and response to TDV in secondary schools.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A team of public health and legal researchers used systematic policy surveillance methods to develop a comprehensive database of state laws addressing TDV in schools in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia (referred to hereinafter as "states") in effect as of September 30, 2020. Using LexisNexis and state legislature websites, state laws (statutes and administrative codes) were identified.
Components for each law were coded within 5 categories: scope, prevention education, policy, response, and implementation.
Overall, 38 states (74.5%) had at least 1 law addressing TDV in secondary schools and 13 states (25.5%) did not. Fewer than half of states with a law (15 of 38 [39.5%]) defined TDV. All 38 states addressed prevention education, with 29 (76.3%) requiring and 9 (23.7%) encouraging these efforts. Prevention education was largely for students in most states (35 [92.1%]), but some states also required school staff (18 [47.4%]) and parents (8 [21.1%]) to receive prevention education. Fewer than half of states required (14 [36.8%]) or encouraged (3 [7.9%]) school districts to develop a policy addressing TDV. Very few states included requirements for how schools must respond to TDV incidents. Fewer than a third of states designated an individual to coordinate TDV efforts (12 [31.6%]), included a funding provision in their laws for TDV programs and policies (10 [26.3%]), and included explicit consequences for noncompliance with TDV laws (12 [31.6%]).
This cross-sectional study found that most US states had laws addressing TDV in schools, but there was significant variation in the content and comprehensiveness of the laws. These findings can inform the development of more comprehensive laws on TDV that may ultimately reduce such incidents.
青少年恋爱暴力（TDV）普遍存在，且会对整个生命周期造成不良后果。许多美国州正在积极寻求在学校预防和解决 TDV 的策略，包括颁布和实施 TDV 法律。这些州法律是上游、系统层面的干预措施，为在学校部署各种下游针对性干预措施奠定了基础。尽管这些法律在过去十年中势头强劲，但几乎没有研究检查它们的内容和可变性。
评估美国各州法律在中学预防和应对 TDV 方面的内容和全面性。
设计、设置和参与者：一组公共卫生和法律研究人员使用系统的政策监测方法，开发了一个全面的数据库，其中包含截至 2020 年 9 月 30 日，所有 50 个美国州和哥伦比亚特区（以下简称“州”）实施的针对学校 TDV 的州法律。使用 LexisNexis 和州立法机构网站，确定了州法律（法规和行政法规）。
将每个法律的组成部分编码为 5 个类别：范围、预防教育、政策、应对和实施。
总体而言，38 个州（74.5%）至少有 1 项法律涉及中学的 TDV，13 个州（25.5%）没有。不到一半有法律的州（38 个中的 15 个[39.5%]）定义了 TDV。所有 38 个州都涉及预防教育，其中 29 个（76.3%）要求并 9 个（23.7%）鼓励这些努力。预防教育在大多数州主要针对学生（35 [92.1%]），但一些州也要求学校工作人员（18 [47.4%]）和家长（8 [21.1%]）接受预防教育。不到一半的州要求（14 [36.8%]）或鼓励（3 [7.9%]）学区制定一项针对 TDV 的政策。很少有州对学校必须如何应对 TDV 事件做出要求。不到三分之一的州指定了个人来协调 TDV 工作（12 [31.6%]），在法律中为 TDV 计划和政策（10 [26.3%]）提供资金规定，并明确规定不遵守 TDV 法律的后果（12 [31.6%]）。
本横断面研究发现，大多数美国州都有针对学校 TDV 的法律，但法律的内容和全面性存在很大差异。这些发现可以为制定更全面的 TDV 法律提供信息，这可能最终会减少此类事件的发生。
