Most representative adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) research has reflected heterosexual, cisgender, white populations

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago was awarded a $1,996,357 federal Project Grant from the National Institute of Justice under the National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program (CFDA 16.560). The grant funding, with a period of performance from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2028, will support the "Positive Adolescent Interpersonal Relationships (PAIR) Study." This study aims to expand the understanding of adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) and its impact on marginalized youth populations, including youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth. NORC will convene expert panels, a youth advisory board, and community partners to co-create a longitudinal survey on ARA. The study will recruit a national sample of over 3,000 youth to explore factors influencing ARA experiences and trajectories, as well as develop practical research products to inform interventions and support services for youth, families, schools, and youth-serving organizations.

While over two decades of ARA research has moved the field forward, significant gaps remain in understanding how marginalized social groups, specifically youth of color (YOC) and lgbtq+ youth, are affected by ARA, and how unique protective and risk factors at all levels of the social ecology may shape differential ARA experiences. The positive adolescent interpersonal relationships (PAIR) study is designed to elucidate modifiable factors at the individual and interpersonal relationship levels as well as identify concerns that may be responsive to intervention and secondary prevention at the community and societal levels early in the transition from childhood to adolescence. The study team will convene an expert panel and a youth advisory board (YAB) to CO-create a three-wave annual longitudinal survey to expand knowledge related to the chronicity, severity, and trajectories of ARA in the context of positive youth development (PYD) and socio-ecological factors. Investigators and community-based partners (ymca of the US, boys and girls clubs of america, advocates for youth) will recruit a national majority minoritized cohort (N=3000, supplemented by a probability-based panel for calibration of national weights) to counterbalance research that has failed to apply theoretical models relevant to minoritized youths relationship experiences and socio-ecological model inputs related to dating relationship dynamics, including patterns of ARA. The PAIR study also sets the stage for tracking longitudinal outcomes of healthy and unhealthy relationship patterns. These data will be analyzed for the purpose of working with practitioners and community-based organizations to improve recognition, empathy, and action in support of thriving youth relationships. Research questions address (1) longitudinal relationship taxonomies and variation across marginalized identities; (2) the extent to which social structures suggest an opportunity for targeted interventions addressing ARA at the individual, family, professional (schools, clinical, juvenile justice), and community levels; and (3) consequences associated with ARA experiences and patterns in terms of PYD, mental and physical health, and subsequent relationship dynamics informing identifiable gaps for parenting and professional support, including early recognition and decisions to leave unhealthy relationships. Results will be CO-interpreted with the YAB and expert panel to produce practical research products for contemporaneous dissemination in collaboration with partner organizations to reach important audiences including youth, parents and caregivers, schools, youth service agencies and practitioners. PAIR study data will also inform scientific studies and a longitudinal data archive to broaden researcher access. CA/NCF