Attitudes towards Violence in Adolescents and Youth Intimate Partner Relationships: Validation of the Spanish Version of the EAV

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Attitudes Scale Towards Violence (Escala de Actitudes hacia la Violencia, EAV) in adolescents. The EAV is a questionnaire devoted to assess attitudes towards violence. Additionally, the relationship between EAV and violence manifestations and depressive symptoms was analyzed. The final sample comprised a total of 1248 students in a cross-sectional survey. The EAV, the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale (M-CTS), and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) were used. The analysis of the internal structure of the EAV yielded a two-factor structure as the most adequate. The EAV scores showed measurement invariance across gender and age. The McDonald’s Omega was 0.862 and 0.872 for the two hypothesized factors. Furthermore, self-reported attitudes towards violence were associated with violence manifestations both as a victim and as a perpetrator and depressive symptoms. These results support that the EAV is a brief and easy tool to assess self-reported violence attitudes in intimate partner relationships in adolescents from the general population. The assessment of these attitudes, and its associations with violence and depressive manifestations, may help us to enhance the possibility of an early identification of adolescents potentially at risk for suffering violence as a victim or as a perpetrator.

Development and Psychometric Assessment of a Questionnaire for the Detection of Invisible Violence against Women

“…Several authors defend the idea that IVAW and its acceptability can lead to more explicit and severe forms of IPV [ 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ]. In fact, the WHO urges us to highlight gender attitudes and stereotypes that subjugate women and perpetuate male privilege, justifying violence against them [ 22 ].…”

Special Issue on Mental Health and Well-Being in Adolescence: Environment and Behavior

“…Close to this topic, and unfortunately becoming more frequent nowadays, is intimate partner violence. The work of Ortuño-Sierra et al [16] revealed that attitudes towards violence were more prevalent among men and that these attitudes were correlated with depressive symptoms. In addition, they confirmed the adequacy of an instrument for measuring this relevant construct that may allow one to prevent gender violence among adolescents.…”