Cross-Cultural Analysis of Teen Dating Victimization: Typologies, Correlates, and Implications for Intervention

Beyond the Initial Assault: Characterizing Revictimization in Intimate Partner Violence and Its Implications for Women's Health

Recent research has emphasized the importance of addressing specific victim-related factors to reduce victims' vulnerability and prevent future revictimization experiences. This study aimed to analyze the vulnerability profiles of women who were victims of intimate partner violence, including those who had experienced a single incident of violence and those who had endured revictimization. Participants were 338 women with active judicial protection measures registered in the system of support for victims of gender violence (VioGén) in Madrid, Spain. The analysis considered sociodemographic characteristics, victimization history, perceived triggers of violence, women's responses and feelings, as well as clinical outcomes linked to revictimization history. The study revealed that many victims faced socioeconomic vulnerability. Furthermore, the findings underscored the intricate link between the likelihood of enduring chronic violence and women's awareness of early indicators of violence risk, their initial responses to aggression, communication skills, and recurrent behaviors in the context of an established violent dynamic. This study offers valuable insights for law enforcement to identify the risk of revictimization. Furthermore, findings raise awareness about the particularly vulnerable situation of some women to repeated victimization experiences and provide relevant information for clinical intervention.

Intimate partner violence among adolescents: Prevalence rates after one decade of research

INTRODUCTION

Intimate partner violence research and intervention strategies have grown substantially over the last two decades. However, little research has examined whether the intimate partner prevalence has changed or remained stable over time in Spain. Moreover, few studies have analyzed whether intimate partner violence prevalence rates among genders and age groups have fluctuated similarly or not.

METHOD

The aim of this study was to analyze the trends observed in intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization rates among adolescents in three sample cohorts from Spain interviewed in 2006, 2010, and 2016 (4591 Spanish adolescents; 53.6% girls and 46.2% boys). ANCOVA was used to compare the population means between the cohorts: sex, age, and the type of intimate partner violence, for example, verbal, physical, and sexual.

RESULTS

The results showed a significant decrease in intimate partner violence rates from 2006 to 2016, which was more noticeable within the first half of this decade. Throughout the decade, the girls perpetrated more verbal and mild physical assaults, while the boys perpetrated more sexual assaults. However, these results suggest a clear bidirectional intimate partner violence dynamic between the genders. Additionally, late adolescence reported a higher prevalence of aggressions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlight the need to adapt current prevention strategies considering the differences in the intimate partner violence trajectories based on sex and age, with the aim of regaining the marked rate of decline in aggression observed up to 2010.

Childhood maltreatment: The role of concurrent advantageous experiences on adolescents' psychosocial adjustment

Despite the growing body of evidence concerning the harmful effects of childhood maltreatment, intimate partner violence exposure (IPVE) and their correlates, little is currently known about the effects of co-occurring advantageous family conditions (e.g., instrumental support, inductive parenting, positive communication) and how they may serve to offset the detrimental effects of maltreatment and IPVE. The present study applied a three-step latent class analysis to identify the co-occurrence patterns of childhood maltreatment and advantageous family conditions among 1379 Spanish adolescents. The study also sought to identify the sociodemographic risk markers and psychosocial adjustment associated with each latent class membership. The analyses revealed four classes, namely (1) violent family context, (2) emotionally neglectful family context, (3) adverse and advantageous family conditions, and (4) positive family context. Having a lower socioeconomic status and being a migrant were both risk markers for membership to the violent family context as well as to the adverse and advantageous family conditions class. Adolescents who were exposed to advantageous family conditions (e.g., the positive family context or the adverse and advantageous family conditions) exhibited fewer psychosocial problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, somatisation) and lower frequencies of teen dating violence (TDV) when compared with those in the violent family context. Moreover, membership to the emotionally neglectful family context class was related to more psychological symptoms and a higher prevalence of TDV when compared with membership to the positive family context class, despite the absence of IPVE and maltreatment. Overall, the results provide evidence that advantageous family conditions contribute to better psychosocial adjustment on the part of adolescents even when exposed to IPV and maltreatment. Identifying the experiences that contribute to adolescents' psychosocial adjustment could help clinical and governmental interventions tailor their often-limited resources to children who are at greater risk of negative outcomes.