"It's all country boys:" rural young male perceptions of risk and protective factors for dating violence and technology-based interventions as an acceptable response

In 2019, one in eight US teens reported experiencing Teen Dating Violence (TDV) as physical, psychological, sexual, and online abuse. Studies show rural youth report up to twice the physical violence rates of urban youth but remain grossly undersampled and understudied, particularly rural young males. The Health-e BROs! Study (Better & Healthy Relationship Outcomes) was designed to begin to address this gap. An understudied aspect of dating violence prevention is young people's perception and communication of risks associated with TDV victimization and perpetration. Overall, 14 rural young males participated in three online focus groups, and another 13 completed phone interviews stratified by age - 15-17 (middle adolescents) and 18-24 (emerging adults). In this dissertation, two specific aims were addressed using distinct analytical approaches. First, using an interpretive and dialectical approach grounded in relational dialectics theory (RDT), this study explored TDV risk communication and risk perceptions among rural young males (ages 15-24). Our interpretive analysis identified two main themes of risk and protection dialectics: (1) Dialectics of Social Tensions and (2) Dialectics of Help-Seeking & Help-Giving. Within each main theme, constitutive sub-themes are described as dialectics accompanied by participant quotes. Dialectical tensions and contradictions were used as a heuristic framework. Our second aim investigated: (a) what rural male youth consider useful content, resources, and features in app-based dating violence prevention intervention and (b) unmet needs related to barriers and facilitators for using this type of intervention in rural contexts. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) guided the second aim, and a qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyze this aim. Findings bear implications for advocates and practitioners working with rural youth in planning developmentally and culturally appropriate anti-TDV programs and will yield intervention, policy, and for researchers by providing a broader framework for the development of theory and effective violence prevention practice in low-income, rural contexts.Includes bibliographical reference