In Spain, one in six adolescents – and one in ten in the case of boys – has been a victim of some type of violence in their first relationships. The most exercised at these ages is control violence: limiting the couple’s relationship with their friends, preventing them from meeting other people or checking their cell phone. One in ten young people between 14 and 17 years old has suffered some of these behaviors from their partner. More girls (13.3%) than boys (7.1%).
This is the x-ray extracted from the research article Violence in relationships between adolescents carried out by Noemí Pereda, Marta Codina and Diego A. Díaz-Faes (all three from the University of Barcelona), for the Social Observatory of the Foundation la Caixa based on a survey of more than 4,000 young people in school between 14 and 17 years old.
The authors explain that couple relationships between adolescents differ from those maintained by adults due to their lack of experience and impulsive relational behaviors that often translate into inappropriate strategies when dealing with conflicts, such as aggression. verbal and physical.
One of the most significant differences between adolescent and adult couples is that violence is suffered and committed by both boys and girls, with highly bidirectional behavior.
Thus, in the results of the survey that gives rise to the research article, it is confirmed that, in the case of control violence, adolescent girls, in addition to being the ones who suffer it the most, are also those who admit to exercising it the most: 4.2% of the respondents compared to 1.9% of the men.
“This form of violence is closely related to a very traditional and patriarchal vision of what romantic love is supposed to be, a relationship model in which control is interpreted as interest and respect for the partner,” commented Noemí Pereda. when presenting the work.
And he explains that the fact that girls admit to exercising control violence to a greater extent than boys “we have also seen in previous works and is explained by the educational model that has prevailed in recent years regarding violence in adolescent couples.” and that has caused many girls to be more sensitive to reporting these behaviors”, while it is possible that boys report it less “due to the greater social rejection they receive if they tell it.”
The researchers point out that, in any case, these relationships between adolescents in which they explain that they control their partners are usually temporary, and that model of initial romantic love disappears with the passage of time and with new relationships. However, they point out that just as in some cases these control behaviors disappear, in others they can escalate to more serious forms of violence, such as physical or sexual violence.
In fact, from the survey carried out for this research it is clear that although the most frequent violence among adolescent couples is control violence (10.1%), in second place is the performance of unwanted sexual acts (4.5% ) and, finally, slaps and other forms of physical aggression (4.2%). But also in these cases there are clear gender differences.
In the case of sexual assaults, the victimization rate is 6.6% among girls and 2.1% among boys. Regarding physical attacks, it is men who report suffering them to a greater extent: 4.5% compared to 3.6% of girls.
And when asked if they have committed this type of violence, 3.3% of adolescent girls admit to having physically attacked and 0.3% confess to having committed sexual aggression. In the case of men, only 1.1% admit to having exercised physical violence and 0.9% to sexual violence. However, the researchers warn that “social desirability bias can lead to underreporting of physical aggression in boys and sexual aggression in both genders.”
However, the authors of the study assure that the rate of victimization among adolescents is high, especially among girls, but they emphasize that when analyzing relationships at these ages, it must be taken into account that adolescence is the vital period in that antisocial behaviors are more common in both sexes, and hence bidirectional violence is proportionally more common in adolescent couples than in stable adult couples, without this meaning that it becomes chronic.
“This is a particular phenomenon in a specific age group and for that reason it requires prevention and intervention frameworks appropriate to the characteristics of this stage,” concludes Pereda.
