Data suggest that reducing adolescent relationship abuse should reduce rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, depression, eating disorders, suicide, school dropouts, and adult intimate partner violence, Dr. Stein said.
For the past 4 years, she has reviewed the literature on the effects of abuse and has sent out monthly updates to interested parties. During that time, her monthly summary has grown from three to six pages. Attention to intimate partner violence and coercion is increasing, and every clinician plays a role, she said.
Dr. Stein, Dr. Espey and Ms. Duplessis recommended the following resources:
• ACOG and Futures Without Violence cobranded a guide for clinicians, "Addressing Intimate Partner Violence, Reproductive and Sexual Coercion." The 56-page pamphlet includes sample scripts for talking with patients, advice on managing someone who screens positive, quality assessment tools for clinical practices, and links to resources including a clinician training kit, "safety cards" for patients, and more.
• The "Healthcare Education, Assessment and Response Tool for Teen Relationships (HEART) Primer" is another free comprehensive toolkit to help clinicians recognize and decrease adolescent relationship abuse and sexual and reproductive coercion, offered by the California Adolescent Health Collaborative.
• The National Center for Youth Law created legal guides for Arizona, California, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio for "When Teens Disclose Dating Violence to Health Care Providers: A Guide to Confidentiality and Reporting Laws."
• Dr. Stein sends monthly e-mail updates about the literature on the effects of abuse. To get on her list, e-mail harise@stanford.edu.
Dr. Stein, Dr. Espey, and Ms. Duplessis reported having no financial disclosures.