Prevalence of teen dating violence in Europe: A systematic review of studies since 2010

Abstract

Violence in adolescent relationships is a common problem with numerous negative short‐ and long‐term consequences. Because most of the evidence on teen dating violence (TDV) synthesized in reviews comes from North American studies, this review aimed to compile evidence on prevalence rates of TDV based on studies identified for Europe only. Specifically, we considered different forms of TDV victimization and perpetration, gender differences, and its measurement. A systematic literature search of the most popular databases Ebsco and PubMed yielded a total of N = 34 studies, with most of the studies identified for Spain, and only a few studies in other European countries. In sum, the results revealed a great variability in prevalence rates across and within the European countries, a common pattern of gender differences, and a wide range of applied measures, corresponding with the evidence from the North American studies. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

The gender symmetry problem in physical teen dating violence: A commentary and suggestions for a research agenda

“…These instruments present a number of items designed to capture different types of physical aggression such as pushing, hitting, punching, biting, threatening someone with physical harm, etc., with a Likert‐Scale response format. Then a dichotomous measure is generated that captures whether a young person had perpetrated or experienced any of the behaviours within a given time horizon (Exner‐Cortens et al., 2016; Smith et al., 2015; Tomaszewska & Schuster, 2021).…”

Effects of DARSI Intervention Program on Adolescents’ Perceptions of Love, Tolerance toward Abuse and Dating Violence Perpetration

“…All the changes observed in the adolescents of the intervention group have clear applied utility. Dating violence is a serious problem for many adolescents [7,9,11,12], and the implementation of prevention programs in educational contexts can reduce the incidence of health problems during adolescence and in adulthood [17][18][19].…”

“…Although these relationships are a positive experience for most adolescents, dating violence is present in many adolescent couples [5][6][7]. Previous studies have observed a high prevalence of violence in these relationships, especially psychological violence [8,9]. In this regard, the percentages of psychological violence perpetration by adolescents in their dating relationships range from 62 to 77% [8,10,11], with some studies indicating even higher percentages [11].…”

“…In their meta-analytic review, Wincentak et al [12] analyzed a total of 101 studies that had been conducted with adolescents aged 13-18 years and reported an overall prevalence of physical dating violence perpetration of 20%. This violence can have serious negative consequences for adolescents [6,9,13,14]. Teen dating violence has been related to stress, anxiety, low life satisfaction, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and substance abuse in adolescent boys and girls [9,15,16].…”

“…This violence can have serious negative consequences for adolescents [6,9,13,14]. Teen dating violence has been related to stress, anxiety, low life satisfaction, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and substance abuse in adolescent boys and girls [9,15,16]. In addition, dating violence in adolescence is a strong predictor of subsequent dating violence in youth and adulthood [17][18][19].…”