Abstract
The main goal was the peer evaluation of the effectiveness of a health education intervention, also seeking the characterization of violent behaviors experienced by teens in intimate relationships. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was performed with a non-probabilistic sample of 197 teens of both genders without control group. The intervention performed consisted of one peer-run forum theater session about intimate violence in dating relationships of teens. Boys reported being both victims and perpetrators of violent behaviors more frequently than girls. The sample reported more behaviors associated with victimization than perpetration. Girls showed a higher level of knowledge on the topic and this knowledge increased after the intervention. Psychological violence is highly prevalent in dating relationships, particularly in cases of victimization. It seems essential to understand and act upon adolescents' perceptions about what violent behavior is. This study confirmed the effectiveness of health education in acquiring knowledge on this topic.
Highlights
Violence in intimate relationships is defined as the behavior by an intimate partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological damage, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors[1], which are more likely to occur in long relationships involving frequent contact[2].In the last ten years, knowledge acquired in this area has brought to light one of the most important challenges for public health[3]
This study has allowed an analysis of knowledge and violent behaviors in dating and intimate relationships, and of the effectiveness of a health education intervention to improve this knowledge and deconstruct myths about healthy relationships maintained by adolescents
The sample studied showed similar levels of dating violence to those found in the bibliography, and it seems essential to understand and act on adolescents’ perception of what constitutes violent behavior
Summary
Violence in intimate relationships is defined as the behavior by an intimate partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological damage, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors[1], which are more likely to occur in long relationships involving frequent contact[2].In the last ten years, knowledge acquired in this area has brought to light one of the most important challenges for public health[3]. There is a lot of research about this problem, its extent and severity among adolescents has only been studied during the last decade[5,6] Research on this topic and its prevention is important because adolescence is a crucial stage of relational development. Based on violence in intimate relationships at this stage of the developmental cycle, it is possible to predict the quality of intimate relationships in adulthood[7]. Violence at this developmental stage can be a precursor of domestic violence[8]
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