This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Murphy, K. A. Articles by Smith, D. I. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Murphy, K. A. Articles by Smith, D. I. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Adolescent Girls' Responses to Warning Signs of Abuse in Romantic Relationships: Implications for Youth-Targeted Relationship Violence Prevention

RMIT University, Australia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: S3126078{at}student.rmit.edu.au.

	Abstract

This study explored adolescent girls’ experiences of, and responses to, seven domains of partner behavior that are considered to be early warning signs of relationship abuse. Girls (N = 146) aged 14 to 18 years, attending schools in a semirural area, completed a purpose-built questionnaire, providing measures of self-reported exposure, perceived seriousness, and proposed response protectiveness in relation to each domain. Substantial proportions of girls (a) reported exposure to each of the domains, (b) lacked awareness particularly of the risks associated with jealous/possessive partner behaviors, and (c) regardless of their level of risk awareness, lacked knowledge of behavioral responses that might discourage continued warning-sign behaviors by their partners in all domains except for social restriction tactics. The implications of these findings for youth-targeted relationship abuse prevention are discussed.

First published on May 13, 2009
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2009, doi:10.1177/0886260509334392


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?