California Teen Dating Violence Data

Two posters highlighting California data about teen dating violence (TDV) and the contribution of declining adolescent births to overall decline in preterm births (PTB) were presented at the 2017 Annual Public Health Association (APHA) meeting. The first poster, also highlighted in the APHA newspaper, The Nations’ Health, demonstrated that youth who experienced TDV also reported risky sexual behaviors such as early age sex initiation, more sexual partners but lower condom use. The second poster showed that overall decline in PTB between 2007 and 2014 was partly contributed by the declining number of births to adolescents and young adults, where shifting maternal age distribution among adolescents contributing the largest impact. Data sources for these posters are the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and 2007-2014 California birth records.