Dating Violence Among Adolescents

Professional Resource Brief

Care, Services, and Support

• Anti-Violence Project (AVP) Hotline. Crisis intervention and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected people who are victims and survivors of violence, including dating violence. The bilingual (English and Spanish) hotline is available 24 hours a day and is staffed by trained volunteers and professional counselors. Telephone: (212) 714-1141.
  
  
• National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). The VictimConnect Resource Map is a searchable tool with national and local resources for victims of all types of crime. Search by type of crime (e.g., teen dating violence) and/or keyword for special need (e.g., language, disability), among other criteria. Also available is a list of Toll Free and Online Hotlines.
  
  
• National Dating Abuse Helpline - loveisrespect. A project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, loveisrespect offers support and resource referrals by trained peer advocates 24 hours a day for adolescents and young adults experiencing dating abuse. Telephone: (866) 331-9474; (800) 787-3224 (TTY); chat online; or text loveis to 22522.
  
  
• National Domestic Violence Hotline. Crisis intervention, safety planning, information about domestic violence, and referrals to local services to victims of domestic violence and those calling on their behalf. Help is available in English and Spanish, with access to more than 170 languages through interpreter services. Telephone: (800) 799-SAFE (799-7233); (800) 787-3224 (TDD).
  
  
• Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): National Sexual Assault Hotline. Free, confidential counseling 24 hours a day in partnership with rape crisis centers across the country. Telephone: (800) 656-HOPE (656-4673). The hotline also offers an online interface. Or search by state or zip code to find a local crisis center.
  
  
• Also see the Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families.
  

Overview

• For an in-depth overview with definitions of dating violence and brief descriptions of the scope of the problem, risk factors, its correlation with risky, unhealthy behaviors, and approaches to prevention, including state examples, see the Children's Safety Network fact sheet Teen Dating Violence as a Public Health Issue (2012).
  
  
• For a brief overview, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) topic About Teen Dating Violence.
  

Websites for Professionals and Parents

• Break the Cycle. Curricula, policy recommendations, outreach materials, and other tools to prevent and end dating abuse among adolescents and young adults, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). Describes dating violence, warning signs, and effects. Presents state law report cards with information about the civil domestic violence protection order laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Teen Dating Violence. Information about dating violence, risk factors, and consequences.
  
  Dating Matters™: Youth Programs. Program to reduce dating violence and increase healthy relationships in high-risk urban communities.
  
  Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA). Initiative to prevent intimate partner violence in communities by promoting strategies aimed at preventing first-time victimization and perpetration.
  
  Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Program. Initiative to strengthen sexual violence prevention efforts in communities, states, and the nation.
  
  VetoViolence. Program to prevent violence and implement evidence-based prevention strategies in your community. Section on Youth Violence Prevention includes materials and a Toolkit.
  
  
• Futures Without Violence: Tweens and Teens. Resources and initiatives for adolescents, parents, schools, and communities to address dating violence. Recognizing adolescent dating abuse, creating an adolescent safety plan, the connection between dating violence and unhealthy behaviors, sexting, sexual coercion, bullying, and engaging coaches to help shape the attitudes and behaviors of young male athletes are among the topics addressed.
  
  Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships. Initiative to prevent adolescent dating violence and abuse by teaching middle school students about healthy relationships.
  
  
• National Institute of Justice: Teen Dating Violence. Information about creating an adolescent-dating-violence research agenda, the prevalence of adolescent dating violence, and two intervention strategies, one school-based and one family-based, that proved effective in reducing the incidence of adolescent dating violence. Includes a recommended reading list.
  
  
• National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet): Preventing and Responding to Teen Dating Violence. Online library of resources to support dating-violence prevention, education, intervention, and public policy. Presents information for adolescents, parents, men and boys, teachers and school-based professionals, health professionals, and domestic violence and sexual violence service providers. Also includes documents about laws and legislation and national prevention programs.
  
  
• Office of Adolescent Health: Talking with Teens. Conversation tools for parents about talking more easily with their adolescents about difficult issues, including healthy relationships.
  
  
• Siegel J, Pedicases Steering Committee. 2013. Effective Clinical Interviewing of Adolescent Boys and Young Men. Boston, MA: Boston Children's Hospital. [Training toolkit].
  

Websites for Tweens and Teens

• GirlsHealth.gov: Relationships. Information for girls about forming healthy relationships, working through problems in relationships, and safe and healthy dating.
  
  
• loveisrespect. Information about dating, healthy relationships, and abusive relationships. Topics include digital abuse, the power and control wheel, why people stay in abusive relationships, abuse in LGBTQ relationships, and how to get help and help others. Also see the National Dating Abuse Helpline.
  
  
• Young Men's Health: Dating Violence. Information for boys and young men about the warning signs of dating violence, the differences between a healthy relationship and an abusive relationship, what might cause a person to be violent in a relationship, and what to do if you or a friend is causing or experiencing dating violence.
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Bullying resource brief
• Child Maltreatment resource brief
• Children and Adolescents Exposed to Violence resource brief
• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) professional resource guide, family resource brief
• Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief

Dating Violence Among Adolescents: Resource Brief. (June 2013. Updated January 2025).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Jennifer Allison, Ph.D., Children's Safety Network; Sally Fogerty, B.S.N., M.Ed., Children's Safety Network; Rebecca Hunt, M.P.A., Children's Safety Network; Adam M. Messinger, Ph.D., Northeastern Illinois University; Shree Mohanty, M.A., M.S., R.D., L.D., Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Region V; Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library; Morrisa B. Rice, M.H.A., R.E.H.S., R.S., HRSA Office of Women's Health; and Ellen Schmidt, B.S., M.S., O.T.R., Children's Safety Network.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.