Person-centered approaches for dating violence among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review

Abstract

An increasing number of studies have documented the heterogeneous nature of dating violence among youth using person-centered approaches. These studies have identified distinct subgroups of individuals who share similarities in their experiences with different forms of dating violence. Identifying dating violence classes is an essential first step for informing prevention and to guide future research. The current systematic review aimed to examine and synthesize the literature on person-centered approaches on dating violence among adolescents and young adults as well as to identify sex or gender differences. Five databases were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies (2000−2022) and theses (2015–2022) written in French, English, or Spanish, with participants aged 11 to 25. Only studies using latent class or latent profile analyses on dating violence victimization and/or perpetration (psychological, physical, and/or sexual) with at least two forms of violence were included. Drawn from 22 studies, findings highlight four typical classes of dating violence: a little or no involvement class (the largest class), a psychological violence class (typically the second largest class), a psychological and physical violence class and a multiple forms of violence class. Results on sex or gender differences are mixed. Similar numbers of classes were generally identified for boys and girls, although two studies found a greater number of classes for girls. Variations in the operationalization of dating violence limit result comparability. Nonetheless, results highlight that prevention should focus on psychological violence, as nearly all individuals involved in dating violence are involved in this form of violence.