Poster #218 - Adolescent Dating Violence and Perceived Barriers to Health Care: The Moderating Role of Natural Mentors

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Harris et al. (2009) found that 8.3% of youth ages 8-16 reported being victims of dating violence. Victims are often reluctant to disclose ADV experiences or seek formalized services. Barriers to help seeking include logistical factors (e.g., costs) as well as feelings of shame or embarrassment. Individuals who feel supported are more likely to access needed services (Stiffman, Pescosolido, & Cabassa, 2004), suggesting the possibility that informal, non-parental mentors can serve as critical gatekeepers for adolescent victims of ADV (Dubois & Silverthorn, 2005). We examined whether involvement in ADV predicted perceived barriers to health care and tested whether that relation was attenuated by the presence of a natural mentor.

Method
We used Wave III data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Participants were included if they reported being victims of dating violence, which was measured using items from the revised Conflicts and Tactics Scale (Straus et al., 1996). Barriers to health care were assessed using an item that asked: “What kept you from seeing a health professional when you really needed to?” Participants were asked to identify all barriers (e.g. cost, embarrassment) from a list of 12, with barriers specific to parental involvement excluded for this study. Presence of a natural mentor during adolescence was assessed as follows: “Other than your parents or step-parents, has an adult made an important positive difference in your life at any time since you were 14 years old?” Appropriate sample weights were used for analyses.

Results
Barriers to health care were regressed onto level of ADV, with gender as a covariate, followed by the interaction of ADV and presence of a natural mentor. Gender was a significant predictor (2.6% explained variance, F(1, 254924) = 6875.96, p < .001) with girls reporting more barriers than boys. As a set, level of dating violence and presence of a natural mentor were significant predictors of barriers to health care, F(2, 254922) = 2039.92, p < .001. Dating violence was associated with a greater number of reported barriers (β = .12, p < .001), whereas presence of a natural mentor predicted fewer barriers (β = -.05, p < .001). The interaction of dating violence and having a natural mentor was also significant and accounted for 13.5% additional variance, F(1, 254921) = 27391.16, p < .001, (see Figure 1). For youth who lacked a natural mentor, there was a significant positive relation between level of dating violence and number of barriers to health care (β = .53). For youth with a natural mentor, the relation was negative and nonsignificant (β = -.09).
Discussion
Controlling for gender, we found involvement in dating violence significantly and positively predicted perceived barriers to health care. That relation was attenuated, however, for those who had the support of a natural mentor during adolescence. These findings provide preliminary evidence that natural mentors can function as supportive gate keepers who facilitate the accessing of health care by victims of ADV (Stiffman et al., 2004).

Authors

• Ayla Mapes, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Meredith Sourk, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jake Steggerda, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• TIM CAVELL, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author