NCJ Number
216438
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 35 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 693-703
Date Published
October 2006
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between middle-school aggressive behaviors and young adults’ experiences as victims and perpetrators of intimate partner physical violence.
Abstract
After following a large, community-based sample of urban youth from early adolescence through young adulthood, where both males and females engaged in high levels of aggressive behaviors, a sizable proportion reported being the victim of or perpetrating intimate partner violence. The prevalence of partner violence perpetration by both genders is clearly high. The study provides evidence that perpetration of violence during middle school is related to perpetrating partner violence by young adulthood. This finding holds for males and females. This research is one of the few longitudinal studies that follow young people from middle school to young adulthood and assess multiple forms of violence and early risk and protective factors. The importance of incorporating strategies for teaching youth how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence and maintaining healthy relationships are highlighted in the findings. Finding out whether young adolescents’ aggressive behaviors predict subsequent perpetration and victimization in relationships with intimate partners can inform public health approaches for addressing domestic and other forms of violence. Using data from a 6-year longitudinal study situated in an urban community, this study examined the relationship between boys’ and girls’ reports of peer-directed aggression during middle school and subsequent involvement as victims and perpetrators of partner physical violence. Surveys were conducted with 977 eighth graders who were resurveyed as young adults. Tables, references