Imagine a teenager you know has entered a new romantic relationship, an exciting and important milestone. They’re initially giddy and full of puppy love, but suddenly they become withdrawn and moody. They begin spending more and more time on their smartphone, they’re not spending time with their friends, and they are showing signs of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. This teen could be experiencing Digital Dating Violence (DDV) in their relationship.
What is Digital Dating Violence?
DDV is a form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), which the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined as “behaviour by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviours” (WHO, 2021, as cited by Torp Løkkeberg et al, 2024). In today’s age of technology and digital communication, IPV has become even more complicated. DDV is a method of using technology (such as social media apps, smartphones, websites, and location tracking apps) to “blackmail, control, coerce, harass, humiliate, objectify or violate” (Henry et al., 2015, p. 398, as cited by Torp Løkkeberg et al, 2024). DDV behaviours can be sorted into four categories: digital aggression, controlling behaviour, harassment, and coercion. Digital aggression can look like sending or receiving threatening messages, blackmailing behaviour such as threatening to share intimate photos or videos of the victim and cyberbullying. Controlling behaviour can take the form of surveilling a partner’s phone and social media, demanding the victim block or delete friends and family from their contacts lists, withholding passwords to personal accounts, and stalking the victim’s location by using tracking apps. Harassment can include excessive texting, violations of privacy such as outing private information, and spreading rumours. Lastly, coercion can include behaviours which involve sexual pressure such as demands to share private texts (sexting), nude photos and videos.
How does DDV impact teenager’s health?
Teenagers experiencing DDV can experience a wide variety of adverse physical, psychological, and relational effects which can impact their short-term and long-term health. In a scoping review of 18 North American and European studies on teenagers, Torp Løkkeberg et al found that teenagers reported lowered self-esteem, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, reduced quality of life, and even self-harm and suicide attempts as a result of experiencing DDV.
What can we do to help?
Adults who support teenagers such as parents, guardians, teachers, counsellors, school nursing staff, and social workers need to become educated on the topic of IPV and DDV so that they can safely talk to their teens about it. When adults are equipped with knowledge on the topic, they can help identify when DDV is occurring and help the teen understand that it is not okay. Additionally, school curriculums should implement age-appropriate lessons to educate teens on the warning signs and consequences of DDV, to equip them to safely engage with technology and intimate relationships.
Everyone deserves to feel safe in the digital world, and teens need adults who are educated in DDV to support them in navigating this vulnerable time of their lives.