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One in three adolescent sex abuse victims had multiple abusers

More than one-third of college students who reported being victims of dating violence as adolescents had two or more abusive partners, according to results of an Ohio State University study.

“It was surprising how many teens had two or more abusive partners,” study researcher and OSU associate professor Amy E. Bonomi, PhD, said in a press release. “For about one in three teens it wasn’t just one abusive boyfriend or girlfriend. It may have been the start of a trend.”

 

Amy E. Bonomi

Bonomi and colleagues surveyed 271 college students who recalled physical, sexual and psychological abuses from 13 to 19 years of age. For each violence type, the researchers asked participants about the number of occurrences, the number of abusive partners and how old they were at the time of the first occurrence. The researchers used a method similar to the timeline follow-back interview, asking participants to recall details regarding their most recent dating partner and then work backward to the previous two relationships — an interview technique involving memory prompts that is more commonly used to study substance abuse and risky sexual behavior.

Results indicated that 64.7% of females and 61.7% of males reported being victims of adolescent dating violence, and most of those participants experienced multiple occurrences. More than one-third of female participants had two or more abusive partners, reporting controlling behavior (35.6%), put downs and name calling (37%), pressured sex (42.9%), insults (44.3%), being slapped or hit (50%) and threats (62.5%). Male participants also had two or more abusive partners, reporting controlling behavior (42.1%), insults (51.2%), put downs (53.3%), threats (55.6%) and unwanted phone calls or text messages (60.7%).

Approximately 25% of female participants reported sexual pressure from their partner’s persistent begging vs. 11% of males. Results also showed that among female participants who reported adolescent dating violence, 44.7% first experienced controlling behavior from 13 to 15 years of age, and 62.5% were first pressured into sex from 16 to 17 years of age. Among abused male participants, 16% to 30% reported sexual victimization across most types of abuse before the age of 15 years.

In a recent study published online in the Archives of General Psychiatry, about 53% of victimized adolescents reported sexual revictimization.

The OSU study results demonstrate the importance of increasing sexual violence prevention efforts both in grade schools and high schools, according to the researchers.

“Many of these kids are getting in relationships early, by the age of 13,” Bonomi said. “We need to help them learn about healthy relationships and how to set sexual boundaries. It shouldn’t just be one class session — it needs to be a routine discussion in school.”

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.