Over one-third of young adults who were victims of dating violence as teenagers have reported having two or more abusive partners.

A recent study, conducted by Ohio State University, surveyed 271 college students asking them to remember any dating violence toward them, including psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, that occurred between the ages of 13 to 17. In total, close to two-thirds of men and women revealed some type of abuse in their teenage years.

The most surprising part of this study is that most teens reported having two or more abusive partners. Amy Bonomi, lead author of the study and associate professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University said, “For about one in three teens who were abused, it wasn’t just one bad boyfriend or girlfriend. It may have been at least the start of a trend.”

This study, published in BMC Public Health, saw psychological abuse, including: swearing, yelling, controlling behavior, put-downs, and name calling, as the most common type of abuse. A common argument is that name calling and insults aren’t abuse but, Bonomi clarifies this is incorrect. Previous research has shown psychological abuse to be damaging in adults, and Bonomi’s goal is to see if the same is true in adolescents.

During this study, 271 college students under the age of 21 completed an online survey about their past dating history between the ages of 13 and 19. Using a technique similar to the timeline follow-back interview, participants were asked to remember their most recent relationship and were asked questions about it. The adolescents were then asked to recall the two relationships previous to that one. The technique uses memory prompts, such as asking participants what year they were in high school to remind them when a relationship began and ended.

An unexpected result occurred, showing one-third of teens having more than one abusive partner. Adults, on the other hand, had previously been noted to have only one abusive partner.

For females, controlling behavior started at an early age, between 13 and 15. Males first experienced put-downs and name-calling between the ages of 13 and 15. Pressure to have sex started at a later age – for women, between 16 and 17 years. Almost 25 percent of females experienced sexual pressure, such as partners begging for sex, in contrast to only 11 percent of males. On the other hand, as much as 13 percent of men reported being physically harmed, while over 5 percent of women said they were.

It is a common assumption that relationship abuse only occurs in low-income and underprivileged teenagers. These results prove that it could happen to affluent teens who are on their way to college.

Bonomi concluded:

“Many of these kids are getting in relationships early, by the age of 13. 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.”

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald