Dating violence is a serious public health issue that needs further understanding in terms of risk factors that may be involved in it. The main goal of this study was to test a mediational model of dating violence risk factors. The sample was composed of 477 secondary and college students from Spain (59% females). A dynamic developmental explanatory model considering aggressiveness, insecure attachment, interparental conflict, and peer dating violence was tested using a multigroup structural equation model. Aggressiveness partially mediated the relation between anxious attachment and dating violence and fully mediated the association between interparental conflict resolution and dating violence. Furthermore, perceived peer dating violence was a direct predictor of dating violence. Implications for prevention and intervention plans are discussed.

Accurate assessment of dating violence (DV) is crucial for evaluation and intervention planning. However, extant self-report measurement tools of DV do not adequately consider age-, generation-, and culture-specific issues, which are essential for its accurate conceptualization. To address these gaps, we developed the Violence in Adolescents' Dating Relationships Inventory (VADRI) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The VADRI was developed based on a qualitative approach for item development through adolescents' individual interviews, focus groups, and experts' judgments, followed by a quantitative approach for tool assessment. Two aspects of DV were addressed: victimization and perpetration. After the necessary cultural and linguistic adaptation of items, the instrument was administered to 466 adolescents from three Spanish-speaking countries: Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. The items were best represented by a one-factor solution in each country, which suggests that DV is a unidimensional construct combining victimization and perpetration. Analyses of item-level factor weights and differential item functioning were conducted aimed at obtaining information about items that best represented the construct, resulting in a 26-item final version that was cross-culturally equivalent. Convergent validity was supported by positive correlations with the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory, and reliability analyses yielded favorable results (with all Cronbach's α values above .90). We conclude that the VADRI is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of DV in various cultural contexts.

Estudios recientes sobre violencia en el noviazgo han sugerido que ambos sexos pueden ser agresores o receptores de violencia. Por ello este estudio explora la frecuencia con que 295 varones, con edades entre 15 y 18 años, ejercen y sufren violencia en sus relaciones de noviazgo. Se aplicó la escala Violence in Adolescents’ Dating Relationships Inventory que indicó mayor frecuencia de respuesta en la violencia sufrida de control y aislamiento en comparación con la violencia verbal, física y sexual. Se halló asociación significativa positiva entre la duración de la relación y la satisfacción con la misma, y entre la perpetración y victimización de conductas de control y aislamiento; también se encontró una correlación negativa entre la satisfacción de la relación y la violencia sufrida directa severa. Los resultados sugieren una posible bidireccionalidad de la violencia en el noviazgo. Por otro lado, mayores niveles satisfacción de la relación se asocian a menores niveles de violencia. Se discuten los resultados desde una perspectiva relacional e inclusiva de género.

Researchers have debated whether relational aggression is a developmentally-normative behavior or a sign of some underlying psychopathology. However, due to the dearth of longitudinal studies, we know little about how relational aggression and more severe forms of disruptive behavior co-develop. The present study examined bidirectional associations between relational aggression and two psychiatric disorders, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD), using data from a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin youth followed from age 10 to 16. Results showed that individuals who engaged in relational aggression tended to increase over time in ODD and CD symptoms, and conversely, individuals exhibiting symptoms of ODD and CD tended to increase in relational aggression. These findings held for boys and girls, for youth born in Mexico and the U.S., and after controlling for physical aggression. Thus, relational aggression seems to be both a developmentally-normative behavior and a predictor of future mental health problems.

Relational aggression—a psychological form of aggression—has numerous negative consequences for physical and emotional health. However, little is known about the risk factors that lead youth to engage in relational aggression. Using multimethod data from a longitudinal research of 674 Mexican‐origin youth, this study examined the influence of parents, siblings, and peers on the development of relational aggression. Increases in relational aggression from age 10 to 16 were associated with: (a) low levels of parental monitoring and (b) increased association with deviant peers and siblings. These results held across gender and nativity status. The findings suggest that multiple socialization agents contribute to the development of relational aggression. We discuss the practical implications for reducing relational aggression during adolescence.

This study aimed to analyze the factorial structure and reliability of the Violence in Adolescent’s Dating Relationship Inventory (VADRI) and to get a shorter form to facilitate its application in the Mexican context. Participants were 1,055 Mexican’ students which ages ranged between 14 and 22 years (M = 17.66, SD = 1.95). The 48.1% were females. A principal component analyses resulted in a three-factor structure which that was confirmed in the confirmatory factor analyses. The VADRI-MX assesses with 19-double items (perpetration and victimization) the three dimensions of the dating violence underlying construct: “Direct and severe”, “Subtle psychological/controlling”, and “Overt psychological/verbal.” Internal consistency was high. Correlations among the three dimensions were moderate. We can conclude that the VADRI-MX is a useful, valid, and reliable assessment tool for assessing dating violence in the adolescence period. Implications for prevention, intervention, and research are discussed.

Child sexual abuse is a global problem that has several physical and psychological health implications for the victims. This study aimed to analyse the way criminal courts respond to allegations of child sexual abuse in religious institutions in Spain compared with cases of abuse committed in other institutional contexts. The sample is composed of 97 abusers from three institutional settings (religious institutions, educational centres, sports centres), responsible for a total of 335 child sexual abuse victims. Some of the results are similar to those found in other countries regarding the sex and age of the victims. There is a predominance of abuse involving bodily contact but without penetration, the abusers’ profiles are diverse, high exposure to minors was paramount as a risk factor, and there is a higher prevalence of diocesan priest abusers compared with members of religious orders. Significant differences were found between the three institutional groups (that is, religious, educational, and sports) in terms of penalties and civil compensation orders imposed on the abusers. The criminal courts consider sexual abuse committed by religious leaders to be a more severe form of the crime compared with abuse committed in other environments. Our study also revealed that several factors substantially influence the criminal courts’ response (for example, proven psychological harm, continuing crime, and the act of penetration), resulting in longer prison sentences and higher civil compensation. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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