Dating Violence Among Adolescents With Disabilities: A Systematic Scoping Review

Adolescent dating violence (ADV) is a significant public health issue that is experienced globally. Currently, we have little understanding of how adolescents with disabilities experience violence across social, political, and cultural domains. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines for conducting systematic scoping reviews to identify the available periodical evidence on dating violence experienced by adolescents with disabilities. Peer-reviewed articles published in English between January 2004 and December 2024 were included. Covidence was used for title and abstract screenings and for full-text reviews. Articles were included based on whether the target population was adolescents, discussed adolescents with disabilities, and focused on dating violence within this population. The initial search across five databases (Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, socINDEX, and Scopus) yielded 4537 results as potentially relevant. Following title, abstract, and full-text screenings, 11 were included in the final review that met the inclusion criteria. Disability and experiences of dating violence were found to be culturally influenced; prevention programming can be adapted to positively impact disabled youth, and youth with disabilities (particularly young women) were disproportionately affected by violence compared to non-disabled teens. Overall, there is limited available research on the experiences of relationship violence among adolescents with disabilities. Future research in this area should provide clear definitions of disability, focus on a variety of disability types, including invisible disabilities, and encourage the application of an intersectional, critical disability theory framework. This will be essential in informing targeted and inclusive violence prevention initiatives.