Teen dating violence (TDV) can have a deep impact on health, opportunity, and well-being that can last a lifetime. While the thought of your child, friend, sibling, or acquaintance can be daunting, there are some things that may be helpful to know. TDV can show different warning signs but, thankfully, can be prevented if you know what you’re looking for.

First, how would you define “dating violence?” What teens may consider harmless behaviors may develop into more dangerous actions. According to the CDC, teen dating violence can involve:

• Physical violence is when a person hurts or tries to hurt a partner by hitting, kicking, or using another type of physical force.
• Sexual violence is forcing or attempting to force a partner to take part in a sex act and or sexual touching when the partner does not or cannot consent. It also includes non-physical sexual behaviors like posting or sharing sexual pictures of a partner without their consent or sexting someone without their consent.
• Psychological aggression is the use of verbal and non-verbal communication with the intent to harm a partner mentally or emotionally and/or exert control over a partner.
• Stalking is a pattern of repeated, unwanted attention and contact by a partner that causes fear or concern for one’s own safety or the safety of someone close to the victim” (CDC, 2021).

The statistics are quite startling as well. Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey indicate that:

• Nearly 1 in 11 female and approximately 1 in 14 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the last year.
• About 1 in 8 female and 1 in 26 male high school students report having experienced sexual dating violence in the last year.
• 26% of women and 15% of men who were victims of contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime first experienced these or other forms of violence by that partner before age 18.
• Some teens are more susceptible than others, specifically if they belong to certain minority groups including sexual minority groups as well as racial/ethnic minority groups (CDC, 2021).

Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, substance use, engage in antisocial behaviors (i.e., lying, theft, bullying, hitting, etc.), or thinking about suicide than their peers. What can we do to help teens not only recognize unhealth relationship behaviors, but foster an environment where healthy relationships are the norm?

• Teach your children about what a healthy relationship looks like
• Involve others in your family, friend group, and community
• Be aware of modeled behavior in yourself, the peers, and the media your child is choosing to engage with
• Advocate for safe conditions in multiple environments: school, work, neighborhoods, extracurricular activities, school clubs, etc.
• Support victims: seek treatment and support from trauma centers or those specialized to work with victims of intimate partner violence, educate first responders and law enforcement, provide teachers with training to identify red flags, etc.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March 5). Preventing teen dating violence |violence prevention|injury Center|CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teendatingviolence/fastfact.html

National Eating Disorder Week (February 21-27, 2022)

This year, from February 21st through the 27th, we come together as a country to bring support, awareness, and hope to those struggling with eating disorders. In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives. (NEDA, 2022).

Eating disorders can account for a large array of symptoms and can fall into any of the following:

• Anorexia Nervosa – characterized by weight loss, or lack of appropriate weight gain in children) that include difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature which can accompany poor body image in many individuals.
• Bulimia Nervosa – characterized by a cycle of binge eating and followed by compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to “undo” or compensate for the effects of their binge eating.
• Binge Eating Disorder – characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food in a short period of time. The individual can feel out of control during the binge and experience shame, distress, or guilt afterwards but does not use compensatory measures to counteract the binge eating. This is the most common eating disorder in the United States.
• Pica – persistent eating items that hold no nutritional value like hair, dirt, and paint chips.
• Rumination Disorder – characterized by the regurgitation of food that occurs for at least 1 month. The regurgitated food may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or spit out.
• Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder – previously referred to as “selective eating disorder,” this is characterized by the individual limiting the amount and/or types of food consumed but does not include the distress about body shape or size, or fears of “fatness.”
• Other Specified or Unspecified Eating Disorder – this eating disorder is usually reserved for instances where symptoms of an eating disorder are present, but do not meet the full criteria of any of the disorders in the feeding and eating disorder diagnostic criteria class.

Eating disorders do not discriminate and can affect people from all walks of life regardless of gender, age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, body shape, or weight. Due to there being no definitive known cause for eating disorders, there can be a lot of mystery and misconceptions about them. Here are some common myths:

• Myth #1: Eating disorders are a choice
  • Busted: Eating disorders are not a choice. They’re a complex medical and psychiatric illness that is not chosen due to the many bio-psycho-social factors that are involved. There are even genetic markers which show that biological factors can be important when determining the influence of an eating disorder. Societal factors, physical illness, childhood teasing, bullying, other mental health conditions, and family history all contribute to the prevalence of eating disorder
• Myth #2: Eating disorders aren’t that serious
  • Busted: Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. Potential health consequences of eating disorders include heart attacks, kidney failure, osteoporosis, and electrolyte imbalances
• Myth #3: Eating disorders are a “girl thing.”
  • Busted: Eating disorders affect anyone! It’s true, eating disorders are more common among females, but there is a growing number of male and non-binary individuals who are seeking help for eating disorders as well. According to a study from the CDC conducted in 2007, 1/3 of all eating disorder patients are male.

For more resources, please visit:
nationaleatingdisorders.org