Chilean Adolescents Research Articles

Adolescent fertility and high school completion in Chile: Exploring gender differences

This study has two objectives: first, to estimate the effect of adolescent fertility on high school completion for Chilean adolescents, considering selectivity due to socioeconomic background and prior academic achievement, and, second, to explore the gend

Integrating prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors: the role of moral disengagement and peer social norms

Prosocial behaviors, and more recently, proenvironmental behaviors, have been proposed as two dimensions of an overarching disposition towards the common good. Both behaviors imply a moral dimension and are influenced by the social contexts in which they unfold. In the present study we test these associations, assessing the effect of moral disengagement and peer social norms on prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors. We analyzed the first data wave of an ongoing longitudinal study including 704 Chilean adolescents (301 male, 378 female and 25 do not answer; from 6th to 10th graders). Structural Equation Models showed that prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors were significantly associated with each other, and both with moral disengagement. Direct and cross effects of peer social norms were found for prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors. Moreover, peer social norms on proenvironmental behavior moderated the association between moral disengagement and individual proenvironmental behavior, but the same moderation effect for prosocial norms was not observed. These results highlight the moral nature of prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors and the relevant role that peers have in promoting these behaviors. Results are further discussed regarding their educational and developmental implications.

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Student Engagement Instrument for Chilean Students

Student engagement is associated with various aspects of students’ school experiences, including student achievement, high school completion, and post-secondary success. As measurement of student engagement has grown in countries around the world, few studies have been conducted in South America. This study examined a translated version of the Student Engagement Instrument, widely used in the U.S. and other countries, in a study of 2337 adolescents in Chile. Consistent with prior research, confirmatory factor analyses revealed a six-factor solution as the best fit for the data. However, fewer items were retained than on the studies of the SEI with students in the U.S. The Future Goals and Aspirations and Extrinsic motivation subscales were associated, in expected directions, with achievement 1 year later.

The predictive ability of school refusal on high social anxiety in Chilean adolescents

There is a growing interest in quantifying the risk of presenting maladaptive behaviors through the use of multivariate prediction algorithms such as logistic regressions. The objective of this study was to analyze the predictive capacity of school refusal behavior on high levels of social anxiety. The study used a sample of 895 Chilean adolescents (54.3% girls) aged between 14 and 17 years. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) were administered. The results revealed that adolescents with school refusal presented significantly higher scores in social anxiety than their peers with low scores in school refusal. This is due to feelings of social aversion, negative affectivity, fear of evaluation, or the use of this behavior to pursue the attention of significant others. This type of school refusal was found to be a positive and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. On the contrary, when school refusal is based on obtaining tangible reinforcement outside the school, this factor acts as a negative and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to the differences found according to the type of school refusal behavior and its impact on the appearance of high levels of social anxiety.

Inactivated Vaccine-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Variant-Specific Immunity in Children.

Multiple vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been evaluated in clinical trials. However, trials addressing the immune response in the pediatric population are scarce. The inactivated vaccine CoronaVac has been shown to be safe and immunogenic in a phase 1/2 clinical trial in a pediatric cohort in China. Here, we report interim safety and immunogenicity results of a phase 3 clinical trial for CoronaVac in healthy children and adolescents in Chile. Participants 3 to 17 years old received two doses of CoronaVac in a 4-week interval until 31 December 2021. Local and systemic adverse reactions were registered for volunteers who received one or two doses of CoronaVac. Whole-blood samples were collected from a subgroup of 148 participants for humoral and cellular immunity analyses. The main adverse reaction reported after the first and second doses was pain at the injection site. Four weeks after the second dose, an increase in neutralizing antibody titer was observed in subjects relative to their baseline visit. Similar results were found for activation of specific CD4+ T cells. Neutralizing antibodies were identified against the Delta and Omicron variants. However, these titers were lower than those for the D614G strain. Importantly, comparable CD4+ T cell responses were detected against these variants of concern. Therefore, CoronaVac is safe and immunogenic in subjects 3 to 17 years old, inducing neutralizing antibody secretion and activating CD4+ T cells against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under no. NCT04992260.) IMPORTANCE This work evaluated the immune response induced by two doses of CoronaVac separated by 4 weeks in healthy children and adolescents in Chile. To date, few studies have described the effects of CoronaVac in the pediatric population. Therefore, it is essential to generate knowledge regarding the protection of vaccines in this population. Along these lines, we reported the anti-S humoral response and cellular immune response to several SARS-CoV-2 proteins that have been published and recently studied. Here, we show that a vaccination schedule consisting of two doses separated by 4 weeks induces the secretion of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, CoronaVac induces the activation of CD4+ T cells upon stimulation with peptides from the proteome of SARS-CoV-2. These results indicate that, even though the neutralizing antibody response induced by vaccination decreases against the Delta and Omicron variants, the cellular response against these variants is comparable to the response against the ancestral strain D614G, even being significantly higher against Omicron.

Psychotic experiences, emotion regulation, and suicidal ideation among Chilean adolescents in the general population.

Psychotic experiences are associated with increased risk for suicide. Despite this well-established finding, very little is known about factors that contribute to this relationship. The current study investigated the relationship between psychotic experiences, emotion regulation, and suicidal ideation among 1,590 Chilean adolescents in the general population. Participants completed self-report measures of psychotic experiences (Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences), emotion regulation (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and suicidal ideation (Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale). Statistical analyses included Mann-Whitney U tests, point-biserial correlations, logistic regression, and moderation analyses. Results suggest that paranoid ideation, bizarre experiences, and perceptual abnormalities were moderately associated with suicidal ideation. Additionally, greater expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal were associated with suicidal ideation. Results from the logistic regression indicate that paranoid ideation, perceptual abnormalities, and expressive suppression have the strongest relationship with suicidal ideation, even when controlling for depression and relevant demographic variables. Additionally, paranoid ideation interacted with expressive suppression to predict suicidal ideation, with expressive suppression having the strongest relationship with suicidal ideation when paranoid ideation was low to moderate. Taken together, these findings support the broader literature suggesting that emotion regulation might be a transdiagnostic risk factor for suicidal ideation. Additional longitudinal research is needed to examine whether expressive suppression and other maladaptive emotion regulation strategies serve as a mechanism for suicidal ideation both in the general population and among individuals with psychotic experiences.

Physical fitness mediates the inverse association between fatness indicators and academic achievement, despite the school vulnerability of adolescents-The Cogni-Action Project.

This study aims to determine the mediating role of physical fitness in the relationship between fatness indicators and academic achievement, exploring the influence of school vulnerability. A total of 1,296 Chilean adolescents (aged 10 to 14 years; 50% girls) participated in this study. The global fitness score (GFS) was obtained by adding the three main components of the ALPHA fitness test: cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and speed/agility fitness (SAF). CRF was evaluated through the 20 m shuttle run test; MF by upper and lower limb strength tests; and SAF by the 4 × 10 shuttle run test. BMIz and WHtR were evaluated as general (unspecific) and central (specific) fatness indicators. Academic achievement was established through grades in math, language, and science and their average scores. Multiple mediation analyses were performed according to two models, adjusted for sex, maturity, and schools (model 1), and in model 2, the school vulnerability index (SVI) was added. The SVI is an important proxy of socioeconomic status at the school level, and it was categorized as high-, mid-, or low-SVI. Mediation percentages were calculated, and confidence intervals (bootstrapping) were used to establish significant findings. CRF, SAF, and GFS mediate the relationship between fatness indicators and academic achievement, both partially and totally (ranging from 12.7 to 59.2%). However, MF did not show any mediation effect. After controlling for SVI, CRF, and GFS, mediation changed from partial to total in the associations between math and science with WHtR. Although SAF contributed to GFS mediation, CRF seems to have the most significant mediation role for all academic achievements, regardless of SVI and the fat indicator studied. A higher level of general physical fitness, especially CRF, significantly mediates the detrimental influence of fatness on the academic achievement of schoolchildren. This study suggests that physical fitness plays a relevant role in academic and public health, considering the high prevalence and detrimental influence of obesity and school vulnerability in children and adolescents.

Associations between adolescent alcohol use and neurocognitive functioning in young adulthood

This study examined the associations between excessive alcohol intake during adolescence and neurocognitive functioning in young adulthood and whether these relations varied by sex. Participants were working-class Chilean adolescents (N = 692; M age 16.0 years; 54.5% female) who provided frequency of past 30-day bingeing and past-year intoxication. Neurocognitive measures were completed in young adulthood (M age 21.2 years). Illicit substance users were excluded a priori and other substance use was controlled. When males and females were considered simultaneously, no main effects of intoxication or bingeing were found. However, several sex-specific effects emerged for intoxication, such that more frequent intoxication was associated with poorer visual memory, attention, processing speed, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility in females, while frequent intoxication related to better attention and processing speed in males. In general, effect sizes were small. No relations emerged for verbal memory, working memory, or spatial learning. Possible factors that contribute to divergent sex effects are discussed.

Variability in urinary phthalates, phenols, and parabens across childhood and relation to adolescent breast composition in Chilean girls

BackgroundEpidemiologic evidence suggests that environmental factors acting as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are associated with mammographic breast density and the risk of breast cancer. Exposure to EDCs during puberty, a period of rapid breast development, may affect susceptibility to breast carcinogenesis. MethodsIn a cohort of 366 Chilean adolescents from the Growth and Obesity Cohort Study, we evaluated the relation between urinary concentrations of 15 suspected EDC biomarkers across three pubertal time points (Tanner breast stage 1 (B1), 4 (B4), and 1-year post-menarche) and breast fibroglandular volume (FGV; percent FGV [%FGV] and absolute FGV [aFGV]) and total breast volume (tBV) at 2-years post-menarche. We used linear mixed models to test differences in creatinine-corrected EDC biomarker concentrations at B4 and 1-year post-menarche compared to B1 and calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of EDC concentrations across time points to appraise the consistency of measurements. We fit multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEEs) to evaluate windows of susceptibility for the association between log10-transformed EDCs and log10-transformed breast outcomes. GEEs were adjusted for age, body fat percentage, total caloric intake, and maternal education. ResultsUrinary EDC biomarker concentrations highly varied across pubertal time points (ICC range 0.01–0.30). For 12 EDCs, biomarker concentrations decreased over time. Triclosan measured at 1-year post-menarche was inversely associated with %FGV at 2-years post-menarche (β = −0.025, 95 % confidence interval = −0.041, −0.008). Mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate and the sum of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolite concentrations at B4 were positively associated with aFGV and tBV at 2-years post-menarche. No measured phenols were associated with aFGV and tBV, while no measured parabens were associated with %FGV and aFGV. ConclusionsOur study suggests relatively high variability in EDC biomarker concentrations across the peripubertal time period. We also found evidence to suggest that there may be pubertal windows of susceptibility to select EDCs for the association with adolescent breast density.

Moral Disengagement as a Self-Regulatory Cognitive Process of Transgressions: Psychometric Evidence of the Bandura Scale in Chilean Adolescents.

Moral disengagement is a process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate from their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distressed. It has been described as a key predictor of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., delinquency, aggression, and cyberbullying) and as a mediator between individual variables and unethical outcomes (e.g., empathy and aggression). We aimed to provide evidence of validity based on the internal structure, reliability, and correlations with other constructs of the most used instrument to measure disengagement from moral self-sanctions: Bandura’s Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS). A non-probabilistic national sample of 528 Chilean adolescents from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. The results showed that the 10-item version of the MMDS had a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency. As expected, the MMDS-10 showed positive and medium correlations with abusive, violent antisocial, and delinquent behaviors and negative and medium associations with prosocial behavior and empathy. Additionally, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between empathy and violent antisocial behavior, supporting the hypothesis on moral disengagement as a self-regulatory cognitive process. The results confirm previous research, and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for reducing the use of moral disengagement strategies in adolescence.

Bidirectional Associations of Prosocial Behavior with Peer Acceptance and Rejection in Adolescence

As most studies on the link between peer status and prosocial behavior are cross-sectional, conducted with children, and operationalize status as the difference between acceptance and rejection, it remains unclear whether peer acceptance and rejection are consequences or prerequisites of prosocial behavior in adolescence. To fill this gap, this study examines the bidirectional associations of prosocial behavior with peer acceptance and peer rejection with data collected at 3 time points, 6 months apart, in a sample of 660 early Chilean adolescents (M = 12.94, SD = 0.62; 55.1% boys). Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that prosocial behavior positively predicted future peer acceptance, whereas peer acceptance had no significant effect on future prosocial behavior. The association between rejection and prosocial behavior was negative and bidirectional between Time 1 and Time 2. When a new academic year began, between Time 2 and Time 3, prosocial behavior negatively predicted rejection, whereas rejection in the previous grade level was positively associated with prosocial behavior at the beginning of the next grade. Multi-group panel analyses did not detect significant differences between boys and girls in the cross-lagged associations of prosociality with peer acceptance and peer rejection. The results suggest that acting prosocially can make adolescents better liked by their peers and highlight the possible importance of the transition to a new academic year for the prosocial behavior of previously rejected students. Implications for future research on peer relations are discussed.

Victimization Can Lead to Transgression: Exploring the Psychometric Properties of the Short Stressful Life Events Questionnaire in Adolescents

ABSTRACT We aimed to provide evidence of validity and reliability for the scores of a stressful life events risk assessment in offender and non-offender Chilean adolescents. The design was instrumental. A total of 2,516 adolescents from two previous projects were part of the study. The offender sub-sample (25.36%) was recruited by non-probabilistic convenience sampling and the non-offender (74.64%) by proportional and stratified by conglomerates sampling. We identified 47 items that are risk factors for delinquency and antisocial outcomes, and we grouped them into six theoretical dimensions. We obtained good content coherence, acceptable internal consistency, adequate factor structure, convergent associations with theoretically related constructs, and predictive capacity for some dimensions. The logistic regression analysis showed that adolescents who accumulated more risk factors had an augmented risk of being an offender. The hierarchical multiple regression indicated that four of the six dimensions were predictors of violent antisocial behavior. As evidence of three validity sources and reliability were demonstrated, we recommend using the scale for detecting events that are risk factors of antisocial and delinquent behavior in adolescents and for intervention to prevent violent criminal and antisocial conduct.

Physical activity habits and their relationship with sociodemographic factors in Chilean adolescents.

Physical activity plays an important role in the well-being and development of adolescents. Physical activity habits expressed in terms of frequency and duration are consistently associated with sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, there is less evidence of the relationship between the type and context of physical activity in adolescents. The aim of this article is to analyze physical activity habits and their relationship with sociodemographic factors in Chilean adolescents. The cross-sectional study consisted of 7,263 adolescents aged between 10 and 20 years old, students from both public and private schools in all regions of Chile. Physical activity habits were examined by means of a self-report questionnaire. The age groups were classified according to the three stages of adolescence (early: 10 to 13, middle: 14 to 16, and late: 17 to 20 years old). Socioeconomic level was established based on the school vulnerability index (SVI) of the school attended by each adolescent. In the study it was obvious to the level of physical activity for the adolescents was below the international recommendations. A statistically significant association can also be found between the sociodemographic factors studied and the physical activity habits reported by the young people. The multivariate regression analysis established that the risk of not achieving the physical activity recommendations was 2.8 times higher in females than in males, 2.4 times higher in the older age groups (14–16 and 17–20 years old) compared to the 10–13-year age range and 1.1 times in the medium and high vulnerability groups than in the low socioeconomic vulnerability group. These findings highlight the importance of considering all these factors holistically whenever designing programs or public policies that promote the development of healthy physical activity habits in adolescents.

Which one? A comparative study of traditional and sports uniforms on academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, bullying, and discrimination in adolescents: The Cogni-Action Project.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, bullying, and discrimination in adolescents according to traditional uniforms (TUs) and sports uniforms (SUs) worn at school, while simultaneously exploring the influence of the school vulnerability index.MethodsA total of 988 Chilean adolescents (52.6% boys) aged 10–14 years participated in this cross-sectional study. Academic achievement was evaluated by the average grade in maths, language, and science grades, while cognitive performance was assessed through eight cognitive tasks. TUs affecting physical activity, playtime, bullying, and discrimination were queried. Mixed model analyses were performed.ResultsNo differences were observed in academic achievement (TU: 5.4 ± 0.1 vs. SU: 5.5 ± 0.2, p = 0.785) or in cognitive performance (TU: 99.6 ± 0.8 vs. SU: 98.9 ± 1.8, p= 0.754) according to the school uniformtype. Moreover, 64.1 % of participants declared that wearing TU affects their physical activity (traditional uniforms: + 8 min and sports uniforms: + 20 min), and those who believed so spent more time playing than those who answered negatively (14.5 min, p = 0.012). Finally, adolescents wearing SU displayed a lower feeling of bullying and discrimination; this finding depended mainly on the school's vulnerability.ConclusionIt is concluded that wearing TU does not show an educational advantage at an academic and cognitive level that justifies its obligation. In addition, it could be suggested that schools consider adolescents' opinions in adopting a more comfortable uniform, such as the SU. This feasible and low-cost measure would help to increase adolescents' physical activity during the school day, and, contrary to belief, it would not be related to increased feelings of bullying and discrimination.

Psychosocial Factors and Sociodemographic Characteristics Associated with Suicidality Risk in Chilean Adolescents.

Background: Suicidality in adolescents is a growing concern and is currently a public health issue in Chile and the world. Objective: To determine the association between the risk of suicidality with self-harm, sociodemographic parameters (that is, gender and type of school), psychosocial variables, and social and family support in Chilean adolescents. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 829 (377, 45.5% girls) children/adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age participated. Suicidality, self-esteem, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and social support perception were evaluated by standard, validated questionnaires. The presence of self-harm, dating violence, and family dysfunction was also evaluated through a self-report survey. Results: Suicidality risk was related to low self-esteem (OR = 9.73; 95%; CI = 6.62–14.28; p < 0.001), low HRQoL (OR = 5.0; 95%; CI = 3.51–7.13; p < 0.001), low social support (OR; 3.38, 95%; CI; 2.48–4.6; p < 0.001), and self-harm (OR = 8.03; 95%; CI = 5.69–11.33; p < 0.001). In family terms, suicidality risk was associated with exposure to physical (OR = 2.47, 95%CI; 1.69–3.6; p < 0.001) and psychological (OR = 1.78, 95; 1.33–2.39; p < 0.001) aggression between parents, and with considering their family dysfunctional (OR = 2.41 95%; CI = 1.69–3.41; p < 0.001). Finally, suicidality was associated with feeling mistreated by a boyfriend/girlfriend (OR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.19–3.98; p = 0.011). Conclusion: Suicidality was associated with self-harm, low social, psychological and family well-being, and/or feeling mistreated by a boyfriend/girlfriend.

Perception about adult caregiving among Chilean adolescents.

Chronic stress has short and long-term consequences during child and adolescent development if the stress is not mediated by adult care-giving. To assess the perceptions of parental responsiveness, demand, and monitoring among seventh grade students. We applied the Brief Parental Scale (developed and validated locally) asking 12 items about three dimensions, namely responsiveness, demand, and monitoring to 524 seventh grade students aged 12 years, 48% females, from eight public and private schools at Santiago. The overall response rate was 85%. While the scores were higher for mothers, a significantly constant gradient for the same dimensions (demand > responsiveness > monitoring) was verified for both parents. The main hypothesis emerged from our study is that adolescents seem to perceive a discrepancy in terms of a relatively high demand and lower monitoring from parents/guardians towards them. The differences between fathers and mothers in adolescent care and the different perceptions by gender of adolescents about parental caregiving, require a further analysis.

Predictors of Family, School and Neighbourhood Domain on Life Satisfaction in Chilean Adolescents

Adolescents live in constant interaction with their family, school and neighbourhood domains, affecting them and being affected by them, playing an active role in their subjective well-being. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of family, school and neighbourhood domains on the life satisfaction of Chilean adolescents. The sample consisted of 1392 adolescents who participated in the International Survey on Children's Well-Being (ISCWeB) in Chile. The results showed that a structural equation model configured with five dimensions referring to family, school and neighbourhood jointly contributed to explain 41% of the variance in students' life satisfaction. When adding the variables gender, age and school vulnerability index to the model, no influence on life satisfaction was observed. An unexpected finding, contradictory to other studies, was that satisfaction with school had no influence on this model. The implications of the study are that the results can serve as a diagnostic for proposing subjective well-being interventions based on strengthening students' family, school or neighbourhood domains.

Bullying Behavior and School Bonding for Predicting Student Engagement Among Chilean Adolescents

ABSTRACT Whereas most research has focused on the influence of teachers on student engagement, we postulate that peer experiences – particularly bullying behavior as a victim or perpetrator – impact student engagement over time. Using a sample of 525 adolescents (46% female, mean age = 13.51) nested within 31 classrooms from Chilean schools selected by convenience sampling design, we examined the relationship between victim and perpetrator on student engagement. Concurrently, we examined school bonding as a predictor of student engagement as well as its potential role as a protective factor. Our results indicated that perpetration predicted students’ cognitive engagement (at the individual level), whereas both being a victim (at the individual level) and school bonding (at the individual and classroom levels) predicted emotional engagement. However, classroom-level school bonding did not moderate the relationship between bullying and student engagement. Our study highlights the importance of building positive school climates for improving student engagement.

The Social Competence Promotion Program among Young Adolescents (SCPP-YA) in Chile (“Mi Mejor Plan”) for substance use prevention among early adolescents: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundSubstance use is highly prevalent among children and adolescents in Chile, and it is known how it impacts their health and social adjustment. The call for effective prevention of substance use among children adolescents has resulted in numerous school-based programs, and particularly, the Social Competence Promotion Program among Young Adolescents (SCPP-YA) has been proved to be successful for promoting social and problem-solving skills in addition to preventing substance abuse in the US population. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Social Competence Promotion Program among Young Adolescents (SCPP-YA) in Chile (“Mi Mejor Plan”).MethodsThis is a cluster randomized controlled trial, parallel-group type, where “Mi Mejor Plan” is compared to standard school preventive curricula in control schools. A total of 10 schools and 600 adolescents are expected to be recruited and randomized with 1:1 allocation. During formative work, the SCPP-YA program was culturally adapted to Chile. The effectiveness of this program will be assessed using the European Drug Addiction Prevention Trial Questionnaire (EU-Dap), measuring substance use prevalence and risk and protective factors in baseline, post-intervention, and 4 months after the end of the intervention.DiscussionThe proposed study will be the first to test the effectiveness of the Social Competence Promotion Program among Young Adolescents (SCPP-YA) in Chile in a cluster randomized control trial and also the first study evaluating this program in Spanish-speaking Latin America. SCPP-YA has been implemented successfully in the USA. Thus, if the effects of the program are positive, wide implementation in Chile and Latin American countries is possible soon.Trial registrationClinical Trials NCT04236947. Registered on January 22, 2020.

A gender study of the social representations of dating violence in Chilean adolescents.

The experiences and viewpoints of adolescents as regards dating violence in southern countries remain poorly documented. It is thus difficult to have an overall understanding of the phenomenon. Based on social representation theory, this paper attempts to fill this gap by answering the question: What is dating violence for Chilean adolescents? Knowing what adolescents consider to be dating violence and the contextual elements that influence their perceptions is essential to developing effective prevention strategies. This is particularly important as prevention policies are currently non-existent in Chile, despite the fact that adolescents living there must deal with many risk factors. In this context, a qualitative multi-methodological study (free association and focus groups) was conducted with 142 Chilean adolescents from public and private schools. This study showed that the explanations of dating violence given by boys and girls were influenced by gender and a context of ambivalent sexism. It also took place in a changing socio-cultural Chilean context. Dating violence used by boys was driven by machismo and its exercise by girls was perceived to come from cultural changes concerning women’s rights. In addition, the physical nature of dating violence was deeply entrenched in the study participants’ social representations, the figurative image being hits. Based on these results, we recommend that future research and prevention strategies should consider the sociocultural context and gender as aspects likely to influence both the adolescents’ social representations of dating violence and their behaviors. Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-022-00407-7.