Theory and teen dating violence victimization: Considering adolescent development

• Teen dating violence is an important public health problem.
• We discuss five theories of adolescent development relevant to dating violence.
• Researchers can use key tenets of these theories to guide dating violence research.
• Lead to research that is situated in the broader field of adolescent development.
• Theory-driven understanding will facilitate prevention of dating violence.

Teen dating violence is an important public health problem, with implications for the future health and well-being of adolescents. However, most work on teen dating violence has developed separately from literature on normative adolescent romantic relationships and development; understanding teen dating violence within the framework of adolescent psychosocial development may provide new areas for research. Thus, the present paper summarizes five theories of adolescent development that are relevant to the study of teen dating violence victimization, as well as empirical literature that demonstrates support for key theoretical tenets in research examining adolescent romantic relationships. We also present questions for future dating violence study that arise from these key theoretical tenets and past empirical research. Researchers interested in dating violence victimization can use the presented theories to guide new directions in research inquiry, so that findings are situated within the broader field of adolescent development.