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To the Editor: In their article about dating violence among adolescent girls, Dr Silverman and colleagues¹ state that girls who experience these events have rates of suicidal ideation and attempts that are 6 to 9 times higher than those of girls who do not have these experiences. They also find that these girls are less likely to receive treatment for these mental health issues, perhaps because of pain and humiliation.

Although we agree that clinicians should actively try to identify such individuals, they must also do much more. The age of initiation for sexual activity has decreased and been accompanied by a decline in the health status of adolescent girls. It is important to screen adolescents for associated risk factors such as early sexual behavior and drug and tobacco use, which are markers for multiple health risks.² Historically health care providers have not provided adolescent preventive services effectively—it is estimated . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Associated Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy, and Suicidality
Jay G. Silverman, Anita Raj, Lorelei A. Mucci, and Jeanne E. Hathaway
JAMA. 2001;286(5):572-579.
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