The prevalence and severity of teen dating violence victimization in community and at‐risk adolescents in Spain

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and severity of teen dating violence victimization in Spanish adolescents from both community and at‐risk samples. The sample comprised 1,105 community adolescents from secondary schools, 149 adolescents from child, and adolescent mental health centers, 129 from residential care centers associated with the child welfare system, and 101 from centers in the juvenile justice system. The participants, aged between 14 and 17 years, were interviewed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. The lifetime prevalence of victimization in dating relationships ranged from 2.5% to 33.7%. The prevalence of physical victimization was slightly higher in boys, while sexual and electronic victimization and injuries were more prevalent in girls. In conclusion, teen dating violence is a prevalent problem in Spain that needs to be addressed to prevent adolescents from developing risk behaviors and to avoid adverse consequences on mental health, especially in at‐risk adolescents.

The gender symmetry problem in physical teen dating violence: A commentary and suggestions for a research agenda

“…It comprises five new primary studies and a systematic review of 25 studies that reported prevalence estimates in Europe. The results found in these studies corroborate patterns of gender differences found previously: Among heterosexual romantic partners, sexual violence is far more likely to be perpetrated by males, irrespective of the informant (Oyarzún et al., 2021; Tomaszewska & Schuster, 2021). In contrast, prevalence estimates based on self‐reported physical violence perpetration tend to show higher rates for female than for male adolescents (Baier et al., 2021; Bertok et al., 2021; Tomaszewska & Schuster, 2021; Toplu‐Demirtaş & Aracı‐İyiaydın, 2021).…”

“…In Spain, Fernández‐González et al. (2014) showed that females aged 18–20 years were four times more likely to experience injury due to physical dating aggression (also see Oyarzún et al., 2021). These findings are consistent with the limited evidence from hospital data, which shows that female adolescents are far more likely to visit emergency departments for injuries due to intimate partner violence (Epstein‐Ngo et al., 2013; Ranney & Mello, 2011).…”

Control Violence Begins in Adolescent Dating: A Research from Students’ Perception

“…These results confirm the findings of other re-search works, where girls exercise more control violence [ 8 , 19 , 22 , 27 , 43 , 53 ]. The results differ with those obtained by other authors, who found that these types of behaviors were more unequally used, finding greater victimization in girls [ 36 , 51 , 54 , 55 ] and with other studies that concluded that such violence was used by both boys and girls in a similar way [ 9 , 24 , 56 , 57 , 58 ].…”

Introduction to the special issue. Prevalence and predictors of teen dating violence: A European perspective

“…The second contribution, a study by Oyarzún et al. (2021), examines the prevalence rates and severity of different forms of TDV victimization in a community sample of Spanish adolescents and several at‐risk samples, such as from child and adolescent mental health centers, residential care centers associated with the child welfare system, and centers in the juvenile justice system. The authors discuss the relevance of preventing adolescents from experiencing violence in their close relationships, especially in at‐risk adolescents.…”