VAW-Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Among Italian Adolescents: Gender Similarities and Differences

Summary: Author Patrizia Romito discusses her article from the January 2013 issue of Violence Against Women, Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Among Italian Adolescents: Gender Similarities and Differences. Only a few studies have analyzed the health impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on male and female adolescents, taking into account other kinds of violence that can affect their health. In this study, 43.7% of female adolescents and 34.8% of males reported IPV; females reported more psychological and sexual IPV, with no differences for physical IPV. Controlling for family and sexual violence and other confounding factors, female adolescents exposed to IPV had significantly higher adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for depression, panic attacks, eating problems, and suicidal ideation. For male adolescents, only the OR of eating problems almost reached statistical significance. http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/19/1/89.abstract