A Mixed Methods Approach Exploring Risk Factors Associated with Cyber Dating Victimization and Resilience in Adolescents and Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT

The use of technology as a communication tool among youth has fostered opportunities for harassment, stalking or pressuring in romantic relationships. There is a paucity of studies exploring the links between childhood victimization experiences and cyber dating violence (DV) and how youth positively adapt to such experiences. This mixed methods study documents the effects of individual, familial, and social risks associated with cyber DV while exploring strenghts and protective factors in victimized youth’s narratives. A sample of 332 heterosexual youths and emerging adults (mean age 19.9 years) completed a survey exploring romantic and sexual trajectories and 16 participants reporting cyber victimization participated in semi-structured interviews. Results indicated that younger age, exposure to interparental violence, neglect, and a lower level of perceived support from a friend predicted cyber DV, whereas gender, emotional violence, sexual abuse, and perceived parental support were not significant predicting factors. When facing cyber DV and relational difficulties, participants expressed strengths illustrating their resilience: self-regulatory strength (e.g., considering a breakup as an opportunity for self-care), meaning making strength (e.g., thinking that a partner may not have been the right person), and interpersonal strength (e.g., being thankful for support provided by a trusted person). Fostering social support and multiple strengths of youth constitute promising avenues for effective cyber DV interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Dating violence
• cyber victimization
• romantic relationship
• resilience
• risk factors
• child maltreatment
• social support
• youth

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the adolescents and young adults who participated in this project in addition to community groups involved.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to Mylène Fernet under Grant #435-2013-1683 and Maude Lachapelle under Grant Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master’s and from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQ-SC) awarded to Mylène Fernet under Grant #2018-VC-206011 and Maude Lachapelle under Grant #2021-B1Z-285701;Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture [2018-VC-206011,2021-B1Z-285701];