Abstract
Background: dating violence, or violence in teenage couples, is a socially interesting topic, due to its prevalence and its possible use in predicting violence in adult couples. The perception of violence, or the detection of abusive behaviors by teenagers and young people (which can be considered as equivalent concepts), is essential to prevent violence itself. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to determine which behaviors are identified as abusive by teenagers and young people, and the severity that they attribute to them—meaning how they perceive them. Moreover, we will be able to determine whether there are differences between boys and girls in two countries: Spain and Colombia. Methods: for this study, we used two samples from both countries, with a total of 389 teenagers (50.9% females and 49.1% males) who were, on average, 16.56 years old (SD = 1.94 years). We analyzed the factorial invariance depending on sex and country of the sample and the different profiles of violence perception. Results: we found evidence of the internal validity of the questionnaire for what concerns the perception of inter-partner violence. The results point out that the perception of violence in the relationship is composed of two factors related to each other (Multiple and Emotional Abuse), which are invariant depending of sex and country of origin of the sample. The internal consistency of the test is adequate (>0.90). The analysis of the violence perception profiles indicates that Spanish teenagers have a higher perception of it, and, also, that girls hold a higher perception than boys. Conclusions: the results of this research have shown how dating violence (or violence in teenage couples) is differentially perceived not only between genders, but also across cultural contexts. Moreover, these outcomes may enhance the development of possible evidence-based interventions approaching the social problem generated by violence in teenage couples.
Highlights
The study of violence in teenage and young couples, called dating violence, has attracted much attention in the past few years, especially because of its high incidence
As we initially described the majority of studies on dating violence do not take into account gender perspective
We will answer the main objectives of this study, which are (1) to determine which behaviors are perceived as abuse by young people and teenagers, and (2) whether or not there are differences between girls and boys in two countries: Spain and Colombia
Summary
The study of violence in teenage and young couples, called dating violence, has attracted much attention in the past few years, especially because of its high incidence. Public Health 2020, 17, 6769; doi:10.3390/ijerph17186769 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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