A study by the ”la Caixa” Foundation analyzes violence in romantic relationships among young people aged 14 to 17
A new research article published by the premium.cat Observatory of the ”la Caixa” Foundation reveals that 10.1% of teenagers in this age group have experienced controlling behavior from their partners, but that this figure is almost twice as much for girls (13.3%) as for boys (7.1%). These controlling behaviors include limiting the partner’s relationships with other people, preventing him or her from going out with his or her friends or checking his or her cell phone, among others. The article is part of a wider research that will be presented soon.
The article also shows that 13.6% of young people have suffered some form of violence in their partner relationships, while 4.8% admit to having used it against their partner. Controlling violence is the most frequent form of violence both from the perspective of the victims and from that of the aggressors (3%).
Girls suffer more physical and sexual assaults than boys
The study also analyzes other types of violence in adolescent relationships, such as physical and sexual assaults. 4.1% of teenagers have been physically assaulted by their partners, the percentage being similar between girls (3.6%) and boys (4.5%). On the other hand, sexual assaults affect more girls (6.6%) than boys (2.1%). Thus, 16.9% of girls have suffered violence of some kind in their relationships, while in the case of boys it is 10.5%.
Two-way violence is more common in adolescent couples than in adult couples
The article, directed by the researchers Noemí Pereda, Marta Codina and Diego A. Díaz-Faes, from the University of Barcelona, not only studies violence in partner relationships from the perspective of the victims, but also from that of the that they practice it. For this reason, the answers of a representative sample of 4,004 young people in school were examined, of which 51.2% are girls; 46.2% boys and 0.9% identified as other.
The results indicate that 4.8% of young people admit to having used violence against their partner, with 4.2% being girls and 1.9% being boys. With regard to control violence, it is recognized by 3.3% of girls and 1.1% of boys. As for physical aggression, it is recognized by 0.9% of boys and 0.3% of girls. Thus, 6.6% of girls and 3.1% of boys admit to having practiced some type of violence on their partner. In addition, 2.9% of young people claim to have been both victims and perpetrators of violence, 4% of girls and 1.8% of boys.
The article points out that, although girls report a higher rate as victims of controlling behaviors, they also declare that they control their partners to a good extent. “This result, which may seem paradoxical, is found in other previous research and is explained by the educational model that has prevailed in recent years regarding violence in adolescent couples and that has made many girls more aware of these ducts”, explains Pereda. And he adds that “it is possible that the boys report their aggression behaviors less because of the stronger premium.cat rejection they receive when they say they do them”.
The researchers conclude that, although the assessment of violence in partner relationships among adolescents is difficult, the results confirm that the rate of victimization among adolescents is high, especially among girls. Regarding the perpetration by type of violence, the results show that control violence is the most frequent in both sexes.
“However, it is important to note that adolescence is the life period in which antipremium.cat behaviors are more common in both cases, girls and boys, and is considered the most equal stage between genders in this regard . Thus, bidirectional violence in adolescent couples is proportionally more common than in stable adult couples, but it does not necessarily become chronic or reach later stages of development. It is a specific phenomenon in a certain age group and for this reason it requires prevention and intervention frameworks appropriate to the characteristics of this stage”, concludes the researcher.
