Interparental violence and development of antisocial behaviors in Portuguese adolescents

• Published in: Children and youth services review Vol. 163; p. 107706
• Main Authors: Simões, Margarida, Teixeira, Ana, Sani, Ana Isabel, Monteiro, Ana Paula, Martins, José Soares, Relva, Inês Carvalho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Adolescents; Antisocial behaviors; Interparental violence; Physical violence; Psychological aggression; Physical violence; Antisocial behaviors; Psychological aggression; Adolescents; Interparental violence
• ISSN: 0190-7409
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107706

•Males presented more antisocial behaviors than females.•Antisocial behaviors are positively correlated with exposure to interpersonal violence.•Future investigations should explore the exposure to interpersonal violence in co-occurrence with other forms of domestic violence.•Policies may need to address gender differences in adolescent delinquency and consider interventions that take these differences into account. Juvenile delinquency is one of the main problems of adolescents. The objective of the present investigation was to verify the relationship between antisocial behaviors, measured by the Antisocial Conduct Questionnaire (CCA) and witnessing interparental violence assessed through the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS). The sample consisted of 671 adolescents (12 and 20 years old) from the northern region of Portugal. The results indicated that female adolescents revealed to have witnessed higher levels of psychological aggression, perpetrated by both father and mother, compared to males. The results suggest a positive association between emotional and physical violence perpetrated by parents and the different types of antisocial behaviors. Overall, it was found that the more exposed to interparental violence, the more likely they are to develop conduct problems. The results stressed the importance of developing more intervention programs towards violence domestic to prevent violence in that context.