Research Roundup: Family-Based Approaches to Preventing Teen Dating Violence

This research roundup, provided by the Family & Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), highlights three research articles that focus on parent-teen relationships, dating violence, and the effects of exposure to domestic violence. These articles looked at the effectiveness of the Families for Safe Dates materials, including six booklets of information about healthy relationships that were given to families with teens. The researchers interviewed 324 families at four points in the intervention. The studies found that parents were more comfortable talking with their teens about dating violence with the assistance of the brochures, and that the teens themselves experienced less dating violence than teens who had not read the brochures. The researchers also highlighted the importance of strong parent-child relationships in all three articles.