The association of personal attitudes about romantic relationships and perception of partner's attitudes with experience of teen dating violence

Nasilje u mladenačkim vezama vrlo je rasprostranjen javnozdravstveni problem čija pojava uzrokuje brojne posljedice za mlade. Ovo istraţivanje rasvijetlit će nove elemente koji se do sada nisu obuhvaćali, a to je percepcija stavova partnera o romantičnim vezama. Cilj rada je ispitati povezanost izmeĎu doţivljaja rodnih uloga djevojaka i mladića u romantičnim odnosima s prisutnošću nasilnih obrazaca ponašanja u romantičnim vezama kod mladih u različitim lokalnim zajednicama u RH. Ovim se radom ţeljelo istraţiti postoji li povezanost izmeĎu osobnih stavova o romantičnim vezama s iskustvom doţivljenog i počinjenog nasilja u mladenačkim vezama; utvrditi povezanost percepcije stavova partnera o romantičnim vezama s iskustvom doţivljenog i počinjenog nasilja u mladenačkim vezama i utvrditi razlike u osobnim stavovima, percepciji stavova partnera i iskustva doţivljenog i počinjenog nasilja u mladenačkim vezama s obzirom na lokalnu zajednicu u kojoj mlada osoba odrasta. Istraţivanje je provedeno na uzorku od 550 ispitanika, od toga 173 mladića i 337 djevojke, u dobi od 16 do 18 godina. To su učenici trećih i četvrtih razreda srednjih škola u Zagrebu, Splitu, Makarskoj, Omišu, Velikoj Gorici i Ivanić Gradu. U svrhu dobivanja rezultata istraţivanja korištene su metode deskriptivne statistike, za testiranje meĎusobne povezanosti izmeĎu konstrukata korišten je Spearmanov koeficijent korelacije, a razlike izmeĎu promatranih subgrupa testirane su Mann-Whitney U testom. Rezultati istraţivanja pokazuju kako nema statistički značajne povezanosti izmeĎu osobnih stavova o romantičnim vezama s iskustvom doţivljenog i počinjenog nasilja, no postoji statistički značajna negativna povezanost izmeĎu percepcije stavova partnera o romantičnim vezama i doţivljenog nasilnog ponašanja. Nadalje, pokazalo se kako su tradicionalnija uvjerenja o ponašanju djevojaka u vezi povezana su s niţom razinom počinjenog nasilnog ponašanja. Kada gledamo lokalnu zajednicu, pokazalo se kako ispitanici koji ţive na juţnom dijelu Hrvatske imaju više pogrešnih uvjerenja, dok s druge strane ispitanici koji ţive na sjeveru u većoj mjeri prepoznaje nasilne obrasce ponašanja, ali u većoj mjeri i doţivljavaju nasilje. Osim toga, rezultati pokazuju kako ispitanici koji se školuju u većim gradovima u većoj mjeri prepoznaju nasilne obrasce ponašanja, dok su oni koji se školuju u manjim gradovima nasilniji prema partneru/ partnerici u vezi. Rezultati ovog rada mogu pridonijeti podizanju svjesnosti o postojanju problema nasilja u mladenačkim vezama i samim time predstavljati osnovu za prevenciju nasilja u mladenačkim vezama, ali i tretman, koji bi trebao biti usmjeren na osnaţivanje socijalno-emocionalnih vještina, posebno vještina uvaţavanja različitog mišljenja i vještina rješavanja sukoba.Violence in youth relationships is a widespread public health issue in the Republic of Croatia. Its occurrence has numerous consequences for young people. This research will shed light on new elements that have not been examined so far - the individual's perception of their partner's attitude towards romantic relationships. The aim of this research was to examine the association between the perception of gender roles of girls and boys in romantic relationships and the presence of violent behaviour patterns in youth romantic relationships in different local communities in the Republic of Croatia. This research was designed to investigate whether there is an association between personal attitudes towards romantic relationships and the experience of the endured and inflicted violence in youth relationships; to establish the correlation between the perception of partners‟ attitudes towards romantic relationships and the experience of endured and inflicted violence in youth relationships and to determine differences in personal attitudes, the perception of partners' attitudes and the experience of the endured and inflicted violence in young relationships with regards to the local community. The research was conducted on a sample of 550 respondents - 173 boys and 337 girls, aged 16 to 18, third and fourth grade high school students in Zagreb, Split, Makarska, Omiš, Velika Gorica and Ivanić Grad. The obtained results were analysed using the descriptive statistics methods. For the testing of the correlation between the constructs the Spearman correlation coefficient was used, and the differences between the observed subgroup were tested using the Mann – Whitney U test. The results of the research indicate that there are no statistically significant relationships between personal attitudes about romantic relationships and the experience of the endured and inflicted violence, but there is a statistical significance in the relationship between the perception of partners' attitudes towards romantic relationships and the experienced violent behaviour. Furthermore, the results suggest that traditional beliefs of girls‟ behaviour are associated with a lower level of the committed violent behaviour. Taking account of the local community, it has been shown that the respondents living in the southern part of Croatia have more misconceptions, while respondents living in the northern part of the country are more likely to recognise violent behaviour patterns, but also more likely toexperience violent behaviour. In addition to that, the results show that the respondents living in larger cities are more likely to recognise violent behaviour patterns, while respondents living in smaller cities are more likely to commit violence. The results of this study can be used to raise awareness of the problem and can represent a base for the prevention of violence in youth relationships and be a starting point for a treatment that should focus on socio-emotional, practice respecting different opinions and conflict resolution skills