Abstract
Objectives:
To identify the prevalence of dating violence among adolescents and discuss the association between the violent behaviors and the variables: age, gender and length of dating relationship.
Methods:
Epidemiological cross-sectional study. Sample: 1,268 male and female students, aged 16-24 years, enrolled in Portuguese secondary schools. Data were collected through questionnaires including sociodemographic data and data on dating violence victimization and perpetration behaviors.
Results:
5.9% of the adolescents were involved in dating violence situations. Both genders used physical violence. Males were the greatest perpetrators and victims of psychological violence.
Conclusion:
A similar pattern of violence was found between genders in some behaviors, such as: hair pulling, choking, throwing objects, slapping, kicking, head-banging, and pushing. Therefore, further studies are needed to understand which factors influence the differences and similarities of dating violence.
Keywords:
adolescence; adolescent behavior; violence