One in six adolescents visiting the emergency department has experiences dating violence, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that one in five girls and one in eight boys reported dating violence in the past year. They also discovered that dating violence among adolescents was also strongly associated with alcohol, illicit drug use and depression.

"An enormous number of youth and adolescents have already experienced violence in their dating lives," Vijay Singh, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "Patterns that begin in adolescence can carry over to adulthood. Screening and intervention among youth with a history of dating violence can be critical to reducing future adult intimate partner violence."

Violent acts received by a young adult are called dating victimization; violent acts perpetrated by youth are called dating aggression.

For the study, researchers screened more than 4,000 teens and young adults who were seeking care in a suburban emergency department for dating violence within the past year.

Of females, 18.4 percent reported past year dating violence, 10.6 percent reported dating victimization and 14.6 percent reported dating aggression. Of males, 12.5 percent reported past year dating violence, 11.7 percent reported dating victimization and 4.9 percent reported dating aggression.

Researchers said factors associated with dating violence for both males and females were African-American race, alcohol misuse, illicit drug misuse and depression. They added that females reporting prior dating violence were also more likely to have visited the emergency department in the prior year for an intentional injury.

"With this many youth and adolescents experiencing either dating victimization or dating aggression, it's dangerously easy for the behavior to become 'normalized,'" Singh said. "Simply treating the injury and not assessing for dating violence loses an opportunity for injury prevention and breaking the cycle of violence. Because African-American youth experienced greater odds of dating violence than their Caucasian peers, culturally tailored interventions will be essential."

The findings were published online Monday in Annals of Emergency Medicine.