A recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics analyzed nearly 2,200 adolescent homicides reported over 13 years and found that just under 7% of them involved "intimate partner violence."
The victims were overwhelming girls and most were killed by a firearm, the study found.
The authors pointed out that research on homicides involving domestic partners has almost exclusively focused on adults, leaving a dangerous gap in the knowledge about the dangers of relationship violence for teen girls.
Of the adolescent homicides the authors studied, 150 (6.9%) were classified as IPH.
A total of 135 victims (90%) were female, 102 perpetrators (77.9%) were 18 years and older, and 94 (62.7%) were current intimate partners of the victim.
Firearms, specifically handguns, were the most common weapon used, and compared with IPHs of young adults aged 19 to 24 years, perpetrators of adolescent victims were younger and less likely to be a current intimate partner.
The most common categories of adolescent IPH homicides were broken/desired relationship or jealousy and an altercation followed by reckless firearm behavior and pregnancy related.
For more, read the full study in JAMA Pediatrics.