Does the Gender Inequality Index Explain the Variation in State Prevalence Rates of Physical Teen Dating Violence Victimization?

LINDSAY A. GRESSARD Does the Gender Inequality Index Explain the Variation in State Prevalence Rates of Physical Teen Dating Violence Victimization? Background: Constituting a major public health problem, data from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) suggest that nearly 1 out of every 10 high school students in the United States is a victim of physical teen dating violence (TDV). When the prevalence of TDV is examined at the state level, however, significant variation exists; the prevalence of physical TDV victimization ranges from as low as 7.4% in Oklahoma and Vermont to as high as 17.8% in Louisiana. Purpose: Drawing from tenets of feminist theory and social production of disease theory, this study aims to determine whether gender inequality is a contextual risk factor for TDV victimization. Methods: In this study, the state was used as the unit of analysis. Data measuring the staterepresentative prevalence of TDV victimization were obtained from the 2009 YRBS. To measure the level of gender inequality in each state, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was calculated using the procedure described in the United Nations’ Human Development Report. The GII consists of five indicators: 1) maternal mortality, 2) adolescent fertility, 3) parliamentary/government representation, 4) educational attainment, and 5) labor force participation. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were obtained to determine the association between TDV victimization, the GII, and the GII indicators. Ordinary least squares regression was used to create a model for TDV victimization and gender inequality. Results: Of the 40 states included in analyses, the GII was significantly associated with the state prevalence of both total TDV victimization (r=.323, p=.042) and female TDV victimization (r=.353, p=.026). Subsequent to removal of the outlying case of Oklahoma, the GII was also significantly associated with male TDV victimization (r=.366, p=.022). Several individual GII indicators were significantly associated with TDV victimization after removing the outlying case. Conclusion: This is the first study to examine societal level gender inequality as a risk factor for state level TDV victimization using nationally representative data on school youth. As policymakers implement TDV prevention policy at the state level, further research understanding potential macro-level risk factors is particularly important.