NCJ Number
219898
Journal
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: 2007 Pages: 33-49
Date Published
2007
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined Mexican and Mexican-American high school students’ experiences with and attitudes about dating violence, and the relationship of these experiences and attitudes to acculturation and acculturative stress.
Abstract
The study sample self-reported perpetration of physical and verbal-emotional aggression rates at a comparable level with other studies. Medium acculturated adolescents (as measured by language preference), compared with high and low acculturated adolescents had less tolerant attitudes towards dating violence. In addition, acculturative stressors (e.g., conflicted ethnic identity, family acculturation conflict) generally related to more tolerant attitudes and higher rates of perpetration of dating violence. These results confirm that dating violence is a problem with Mexican-American teens. The results also confirm that acculturation and acculturative stress are important factors to consider in the context of dating violence. Dating violence is defined as “any attempt to control or dominate another person physically, sexually, or psychologically, causing some level of harm.” Little is known about dating violence in Mexican-American adolescents. The exploratory study examined 82 Mexican and Mexican-American high school students and the relationship between their experiences and attitudes about dating violence, acculturation, and acculturative stress. The results underscore the importance of studying dating violence in Mexican-American adolescents within the context of acculturation and acculturative stress. Tables, references