Variables Related to Victimization and Perpetration of Dating Violence in Adolescents in Residential Care Settings

Violence in dating relationships constitutes a serious problem, thus, the study of related factors could help to better understand this violence and intervene in it. This study had three goals: (1) To analyze the prevalence of dating violence in adolescents under residential care settings according to sex and age; (2) to explore the relationships between victimization and perpetration in adolescents' dating violence, sexist attitudes and clinical variables; and (3) to identify variables associated to adolescents' dating violence (victimization and perpetration). The sample comprised 271 adolescents (54.6% boys and 45.4% girls), aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 15.23, SD = 1.60). The victimization (R-2 = .17, p <.001) and perpetration (R-2 = .20. p < .001) results showed prevalence rates higher than those of previous studies. Sex was not a differentiating factor for perpetration of dating violence, but age was: the older they were, the higher the perpetration rate. In the case of victimization, an interaction between sex and age was found. Results showed that age, sex, hostile sexism and depression were variables associated to victimization whereas age, hostile sexism and depression were associated to perpetration of dating violence.