Teen dating violence and suicide risk in morocco: Fez city as a case study

Abstract

Dating is a disdained practice in Muslim and Arab countries as it endangers concepts of morality and social order. Regardless of its prohibition, this practice prevails among all social segments especially teens who opt for secret dating to avoid conflict. This attitude amplifies the chances for worst damage to take place among inexperienced daters. The following abstract presents the prevalence of teen dating violence types in Morocco taking Fez city as a case study. Using a gender-based approach, a cross sectional study was conducted among a sample of 200 secondary school students in Fez city. The survey investigated the socio-demographic characteristics of Moroccan teen daters, violence types, and the prevalence of perpetration and victimization among male and female subjects. This research involved a validated scale (The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) distributed in its Moroccan colloquial Arabic version to assess the impact of violence in relationship to suicide. The mean age of participants was 16.98 ± 1.54, and males constituted 53%. The majority of students were high schoolers (69%), and more than half of participants were from low-income families and lived with both parents. Daters represented 80.5% of the sample and they were in a relationship for more than a year. Concerning teen dating violence prevalence, it occurred in 62% of dating relationships, and males reported the highest rates in perpetration and in victimization (40% and 64% respectively). Although many forms of violence occurred reciprocally between male and female participants, suicide ideation proved higher among females.