ASU professor confronts a hidden global crisis: Digital intimate partner violence among teens
More than half of teens who engage with their romantic partners through online apps experience digital intimate partner violence — a global problem that Thao Ha, associate professor of psychology at ASU, is working to change. Photo by Djim Loic/Unsplash
Every day, just over 60% of American teenagers use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% use Snapchat — with more than 10% of these adolescents reporting being on these apps constantly, according to the most recent Pew Research survey.
More than half of teens who engage with their romantic partners through online apps experience harassment, monitoring and coercion, which can include nonstop messaging, checking a partner’s location, demanding passwords or sharing private images without consent.
Thao Ha, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, says these behaviors are happening at a pivotal moment in human development — at the point when we learn how to love.
These negative and harmful online behaviors mirror in-person dating violence, and the amount of time teenagers spend engaging with online digital tools makes these negative online experiences constant and hard to escape.
“Teen relationships are not trivial; they impact mental health and the emotional and relational skills that carry into adulthood. As technology becomes more intertwined with how young people connect, we have a responsibility to ensure that digital spaces support healthy, safe and authentic love rather than undermine it,” she said.
Through her research in the @HEART lab, Ha is working to shine a light on what teens are experiencing online and to enact change. She recently authored a call to action in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal that defines the digital intimate partner violence many teens are navigating alone and offers solutions to protect young people.
Here, she talks about her work in this space.
Note: Answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Question: Why do you study digital intimate partner violence among adolescents?
Answer: Teens are learning how to communicate, set boundaries and build intimacy in a world defined by technology. Many experience digital intimate partner violence, when technology is used to pressure, monitor or harm someone in a romantic relationship. And digital intimate partner violence moves faster than the systems meant to prevent or respond to it, which is why relational skill-building, compassionate guidance and developmentally informed design are essential.
Yet any digital harm is often dismissed as “normal teen drama.” It is not. It is real, it is common and it affects teens during the years when their emotional and relational patterns are being formed. We cannot support young people if we ignore what is happening in the digital spaces where their relationships now live.
Q: What do you want teenagers to understand about digital intimate partner violence?
A: I want teens to know that being pressured, monitored or humiliated online by a partner or ex is not a sign of love. It’s harm and they deserve relationships that feel safe, respectful and grounded in trust.
I also want them to know they are not alone. Many teens experience these dynamics without realizing it, especially when affection, apology or emotional intensity is mixed in. Adolescents often hurt the people they care about — not out of cruelty, but because they are still learning how to manage intense emotions. Healthy love supports your well-being.
Q: What do you want parents and other adults to understand about what teens are experiencing with digital intimate partner violence?
A: Teen relationships are real and deeply meaningful, and digital harm has real emotional consequences. Just because there are no bruises does not mean there is no harm. In fact, studies show that digital intimate partner violence can precede or co-occur with in-person forms of intimate partner violence, which makes early recognition especially important.
The absence of physical injury can make digital abuse easier for adults to overlook, particularly when certain intrusive behaviors, like constant visibility or tracking, have become normalized, even within families. Teens deserve adults who understand that emotional safety matters just as much online as it does in person.
Teens are growing up in a world where boundaries can feel blurry, and they need guidance more than judgment. Adults can help by creating space for open conversation and by teaching relational skills like empathy, communication and respect for privacy. These skills protect teens in both digital and face-to-face relationships.
Q: How does acceptable behavior face-to-face differ from what is becoming accepted online?
A: If someone demanded constant updates or read through your private messages face-to-face, we would immediately see that as intrusive. But online, behaviors like location-sharing, nonstop messaging or monitoring someone’s activity can feel like signs of intimacy or care, especially in teen relationships, which are often full of affection, intensity and a desire to stay constantly connected.
Technology blurs the line between care and control. A threat can be softened with an emoji. A hurtful post can disappear in 24 hours. And because these behaviors often show up in moments of tenderness, jealousy, apology or intimacy, teens may interpret them as part of love rather than what they are: early signs of harm.
Technology also makes it possible for both victimization and retaliation to unfold quickly. A teen who feels hurt, ignored or insecure can react impulsively online, sometimes becoming both the harmed person and the one who harms. This makes it harder for teens and adults to recognize what is happening or to identify who is “at fault.”
Technology blurs the line between care and control.
Thao HaASU professor
Q: What government policies are needed to protect teens?
A: We need digital-safety policies designed specifically for adolescents, not just adapted from adult frameworks. I am advocating for and developing global, coordinated policies because digital intimate partner violence is not confined to one country or culture. Teens around the world are experiencing similar patterns of digital coercion, surveillance and emotional harm, yet our policy responses remain fragmented. A unified international approach would allow governments, educators and technology companies to work from a shared evidence base and set minimum safety standards for youth.
As AI, deepfakes, video-manipulation tools and AI chatbots advance, and as more teens begin forming emotional or even romantic connections with these systems, the need for clear protections becomes even more urgent. Beyond safeguards, we also need global frameworks that affirm a simple truth: Every young person has the right to love safely and authentically. That principle should guide how we design technology, policy and education for the next generation.
Q: What are your next steps in studying what teens are experiencing online and advocating for them?
A: I am working with the @HEART lab to develop clearer ways to define digital intimate partner violence, co-design prevention tools with adolescents and collaborate with global partners to embed relational well-being into digital governance efforts.
Ultimately, my goal is to create digital environments that help young people learn how to love in ways that feel safe, respectful and supportive. Teens need guidance, not judgment, and they deserve support in developing the emotional and relational skills that make healthy love possible.
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