Directionality of physical and psychological dating violence among adolescents in Recife, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE The aim was to investigate the physical and psychological dating violence among adolescents with respect to the profiles of directionality - only man perpetrates, only woman perpetrates, and bidirectional, ie, both perpetrate violence. METHODS Sample was performed by two-stage cluster selection in public and private school in the city of Recife (PE), Brazil, presenting data on 355 adolescents of both sexes between 15 and 19 years old. Psychological violence was measured in dimensions threat, verbal/emotional, and relational. Statistical analyzes incorporated the sampling weight and the complex sample design. RESULTS Violence is bidirectional in most forms studied (83.9%) and girls reported higher levels of perpetration of physical violence, and boys reported more perpetration of relational violence. CONCLUSION It was concluded that adolescent dating violence shows a pattern where partners attack each other, both physically and psychologically. Future research should study the patterns of these acts of violence, keeping the adolescent couple as the unit of analysis and exploring the context in which such violence occurs.