A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that American teens, both boys and girls, become prey to physical and sexual abuse while dating.

A study about Teens Dating Violence revealed one in five girls and one in 10 boys said they'd been abused at least once during the past year. It reveals most teens who reported physical or sexual abuse experienced more than one incident of abuse.

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Of all the girls who reported dating, 6.6 percent said they'd experienced some form of physical TDV in the past 12 months.

Some eight percent said they'd been victims of sexual TDV; 6.4 percent of them experienced both and 20.9 percent had been victims to "any" form of TDV -sexual and physical.

TDV also took into account psychological and emotional abuse. When it came to teen boys, 4.1 percent said they'd experienced physical TDV. Another 2.9 percent said they were victims of sexual TDV, and just over three percent said they were victims of both.

Teen victims were at higher risk of problems such as suicidal behavior, bullying, risky sexual behavior and substance use, researchers found.

The findings are from the U.S. government's annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which has asked a question about physical teen dating violence since 1999. About 13,000 students in grades 9 through 12 responded to the survey.

"While female students have a higher prevalence than male students, male and female students are both impacted by teen dating violence. Prevention efforts may be more effective if they include content for both sexes," said the study's lead author, Kevin Vagi, a behavioral scientist at the CDC.

Vagi explained there's no way to know if the abuse actually causes or worsens certain problems, such as suicidal behavior and substance use.

He said all these health-risk behaviors were most prevalent among students who experienced both forms of TDV and least prevalent among students who experienced none.

In preventing TDV, parents and caregivers can help by shaping the relationship decisions of teens about healthy and unhealthy relationships, and the need for respect.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

TagsTeen Dating Violence, TDV, teen dating, dating, domestic violence, physical abuse, Sexual Abuse, teen physical abuse, suicidal behavior, bullying, risky sexual behavior, substance use, teens