In a survey of 4,163 public-school students in Massachusetts, researchers at Harvard University's School of Public Health found that one in five American high-school girls experienced violence at the hands of a dating partner.

When questioned about recent risky behavior, the victimized girls were three to five times more likely to use cocaine; eight to nine times more likely to have attempted suicide in the previous year; four to six times more likely to have been pregnant; and three to four times more likely to have used unhealthy dieting methods, such as laxatives or vomiting.

"With women in violent relationships, the violence tends to permeate all of their lives; every aspect of their lives becomes impacted," said lead author Jay G. Silverman.

The study is published in the Aug. 1 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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