Partner violence among adolescents: findings from the National Study on Adolescent Health in the United States
G. Curtis, PhD, L. Martins, MD, C. Sandra, PhD

SUMMARY

  This report examines the prevalence of psychological and minor la physical violence victimization in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and associations between sociodemographic factors and victimization. Analyses are based on 7500 adolescents who reported exclusively heterosexual romantic relationships in the EEUU National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Items from the Conflict Tactics Scale were used to measure victimization. Associations between victimization patterns and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed with polytomous logistic regression.

  The Results indicates that one third of adolescents reported some type of victimization, and 12% reported physical violence victimization. Although most sociodemographic characteristics were significantly associated with victimization, patterns varied by sex and type of victimization.

KEY WORDS

Psychological and physical violence, adolescents, prevalence, sociodemographic factors.