Association of adolescent dating violence as victim or perpetrator with childhood maltreatment

Background: Childhood maltreatment extends beyond this stage of development, impacting adolescence and adulthood, and even adolescent dating violence. Adolescence is an essential transitional stage, so dating violence puts development at risk. In Chile, studies on adolescent dating violence are just emerging and still show a gap. Aim: To examine the relationship between abuse during childhood with victimization and perpetration experiences for adolescent dating violence. Material and Methods: The sample consisted of 242 adolescents between 14 and 19 years of age (59% females) who completed the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationship Inventory (CADRI) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CQT-SF), both in their Spanish version. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the degree of association between sexual, emotional, and physical abuse during childhood with adolescent dating violence. Results: Sexual and emotional abuse were predictors of dating victimization. In addition, sexual and physical abuse were found to be predictors of perpetration. Conclusions: Our study supports the evidence on differentiated outcomes between adolescent dating victimization and perpetration. Moreover, it highlights the role of childhood sexual abuse as a predictor of both.