The number of complaints filed by parents against their children nationwide has increased dramatically, particularly since 2005. The aim of this study was to examine whether young offenders who had been charged for violence against their parents presented different psychological problems from youngsters charged with other types of offence and non-offenders. Data from 231 adolescents of both sexes aged 14 to 18 years and living in the Basque Country (Spain) were analyzed. Of these, 106 were offenders and the rest were from a community sample. Some of the offenders had been charged with child-to-parent violence (n = 59), while the rest of them had not (n = 47). Offenders who had assaulted or abused their parents presented more behavior problems outside home and more characteristics associated with depressive symptomatology than offenders of other types or non-offenders. Certain psychological problems in adolescents could precipitate family conflict situations and leave parents unable to control their children. Findings highlight the need for offenders charged with child-to-parent violence to receive individual psychological therapy.

El objetivo de esta investigación ha sido estudiar el papel de diversas formas de sexismo como predictores de la violencia de pareja así como las posibles diferencias de esas variables en función del origen cultural y el sexo. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 251 personas residentes en España, de las cuales el 28% eran autóctonas mientras que el 72% eran inmigrantes (procedentes de Latinoamérica y de África), de ambos sexos y de edades comprendidas entre los 18 y 65 años. El 11% refiere la perpetración de algún tipo de violencia en la pareja (física, psicológica o sexual) y el 9% eran casos de violencia bidireccional mientras que el 2% eran casos de violencia unidireccional. En general, los varones y las personas inmigrantes presentaban puntuaciones superiores en diversos tipos de sexismo a las de las mujeres y las personas autóctonas, respectivamente. Los resultados del modelo estructural mostraron que el conjunto de manifestaciones de sexismo analizadas explicaban débilmente la violencia en las relaciones de pareja (3%), discutiéndose las implicaciones de este hallazgo.

There is currently a consensus that sexism is one of the most important causes of intimate partner violence, but this has yet to be empirically demonstrated conclusively. The key objective of the study was to adapt Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and to validate it to the Basque language. It also aims to analyze the prevalence of violence in dating relationships and verify if ambivalent sexism in young men and women is a valid predictor of perpetration and/or victimization in their dating relationships. Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and Dating Relationship Questionnaire were administered to 1378 undergraduate students (66% women and 45% Basque), aged between 17 and 30. The psychometric properties of the Basque and Spanish versions of the ASI are deemed to be acceptable. Sufficient guarantees are provided to be used as an instrument for measuring ambivalent sexism in adult Basque speakers. Ambivalent sexism among young men and women are both positively associated with the perpetration of violence and victimization in their dating relationships. However, ambivalent sexism or two sub-types of sexism (hostile and benevolent) are not relevant risk factors to be perpetrator or victim of violence in dating relationships, due to accounting for 3% or less of variance in dating violence.

The exposure of adult children to inter-parental violence is an indirect form of victimization which has not been widely investigated in relation to its consequences in adulthood. The main goal of this study was to analyze predictors of dating violence based on an integrated model of intergenerational transmission of violence with the assessment of potential indirect effects of inter-parental violence exposure on dating violence through child-to-parent violence and sexism. A total of 847 college students participated in this study, ranging from 18 to 25 years of age. Inter-parental violence exposure plays a relevant role in dating violence, with indirect effects through child-to-parent violence and sexism. These results support social learning theory in explaining the intergenerational transmission of violence and indicate that further attention should be paid to children exposed to inter-parental violence. Intervention models to prevent the perpetration of dating violence should include the prevention of inter-parental violence exposure and child-to-parent violence.

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