Strategies to Prevent and Cope with Adolescent Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Dating violence has attracted scholarly interest from many fields because of its implications for adolescents’ health. This study aimed to learn which strategies adolescents use to address and prevent dating violence. Methods: Eight focus group discussions were analyzed, which included a total of 78 adolescents between 13 and 17 years old who had the signed consent of their parents or guardians. Results: The findings showed that the majority of adolescents lacked effective mechanisms to manage violence in their dating relationships, which were characterized by immaturity, a lack of trust in their families, and unrecognized relationship violence. Conclusions: Assessing roles and relationships, as well as coping mechanisms, is a valid way to approach adolescents and explore how they perceive interaction during dating and which strategies are used most frequently to prevent violence.