Young people's online and face-to-face experiences of interpersonal violence and abuse and their subjective impact across five European countries

Christine Barter, Nicky Stanley, Marsha Wood, Alba Lanau, Nadia Aghtaie, Cath Larkins, Carolina Øverlien

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

91 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Objective: This paper explores the experiences and interconnection of young people's online and offline (face-to-face) experiences of interpersonal violence and abuse (IPVA) victimization across 5 European countries (i.e., Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Italy and Norway) and its subjective impact. Evidence on the association between online and offline forms of IPVA in young people's relationships remains rare and even fewer studies address the subjective impact of these experiences. To our knowledge this is the first study to address these issues within a European context. Method: As part of a wider mixed-method study, a school-based survey was completed with 4,564 young people aged 14-17 across 5 European countries. Results: The findings showed that IPVA through new technologies, especially controlling behavior and surveillance, represented a common aspect of IPVA behaviors across the 5 country samples. There was a substantial intersection between online and offline forms of IPVA. In 3 of the 5 country samples, IPVA prevalence rates were not significantly associated with gender. However, for each form of IPVA studied, the reported subjective impact was gendered: Girls reported greater negative impact than boys. Conclusion: Our research showed that youth programs aimed at preventing or responding to adolescent IPVA need to pay careful attention to how new technologies are used within young people's relationships and the ways in which these experiences may be differentiated by gender.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)375-384
Number of pages10
JournalPsychology of Violence
Volume7
Issue number3
Early online date13 Apr 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2017

Keywords

  • dating violence
  • intimate violence and abuse
  • new technologies
  • prevention
  • youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Social Psychology
  • Applied Psychology

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