# Electronic Dating Abuse: A longitudinal examination of precursors and sequelae

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $77,806

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents is a serious health concern in the United States: nationally
representative data indicate that 1 in 5 teen girls and 1 in 10 teen boys experienced physical and/or sexual
dating violence within the previous 12 months (Vagi et al. 2015). IPV in adolescence not only leads to later
IPV, but also sets adolescents on a trajectory that includes later depression, suicidal ideation, chronic
diseases, substance use behaviors, and risky sexual behaviors. One critical and newly emerging area of
adolescent IPV prevention is Electronic Dating Aggression (EDA). EDA is psychological and/or sexual abuse
perpetrated utilizing electronic devices or platforms, including coercive control, harassment, or stalking that
may be exercised through email, instant messaging, social networking, texting and sexting. One in 4 teens
have been the victim of EDA in the previous 12 months and 1 in 10 have admitted to perpetrating EDA in the
previous 12 months (Zweig et al., 2013a). Cross-sectional evidence suggests that EDA in adolescence is
linked to physical IPV and other negative developmental outcomes, but data on EDA is scarce and no
longitudinal studies have examined this question. Cross-sectional analyses demonstrate that EDA is
associated with in-person physical IPV, engaging in delinquent behaviors, and depressive symptoms. There is
an urgent need to better understand the impact of EDA on adolescent developmental trajectories and
modifiable factors that could help prevent EDA. To address this gap, we propose to conduct secondary data
analyses on four waves of survey data from a diverse sample of students (n=1236) in southeast Michigan. This
data was collected using an accelerated longitudinal design following a sample of two cohorts (starting in 6th
and 9th grade), stratified by poverty and community violence indicators, each year as part of the SHARE study
(U01-CE002115). This data has rigorous measures of EDA, in-person IPV, and other developmental
outcomes. Our proposed research aims to: (Aim 1) Group adolescents by profiles of EDA
perpetration/victimization and in-person physical IPV perpetration/victimization using Latent Transition Analysis
and identify socio-demographic and developmental correlates of group membership and transitions between
groups over time. (Aim 2) Test the hypothesis that LTA profiles will significantly predict negative
developmental outcomes trajectories. (Aim 3) Identify modifiable individual-level, family-level, and school-level
factors that predict LTA group membership and transitions between groups over time. Each of these analyses
will examine differences in by gender and age (early adolescence vs. later adolescence). The proposed
longitudinal analyses will provide key information that can inform interventions focused on preventing EDA, and
teen dating violence more broadly. Upon completion of these research activities, our team will be poised to
conduct a follow up study de...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9848563
- **Project number:** 5R03HD095053-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul Joseph Fleming
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $77,806
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-10 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9848563

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9848563, Electronic Dating Abuse: A longitudinal examination of precursors and sequelae (5R03HD095053-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9848563. Licensed CC0.

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