title: Directionality of physical and psychological dating violence among adolescents in Recife, Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to investigate the physical and psychological dating violence among adolescents with respect to the profiles of directionality - only man perpetrates, only woman perpetrates, and bidirectional, ie, both perpetrate violence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sample was performed by two-stage cluster selection in public and private school in the city of Recife (PE), Brazil, presenting data on 355 adolescents of both sexes between 15 and 19 years old. Psychological violence was measured in dimensions threat, verbal/emotional, and relational. Statistical analyzes incorporated the sampling weight and the complex sample design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Violence is bidirectional in most forms studied (83.9%) and girls reported higher levels of perpetration of physical violence, and boys reported more perpetration of relational violence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that adolescent dating violence shows a pattern where partners attack each other, both physically and psychologically. Future research should study the patterns of these acts of violence, keeping the adolescent couple as the unit of analysis and exploring the context in which such violence occurs.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Alice Kelly
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Barreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Social, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Luiza Carvalho
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canadá
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bigras
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Saúde Pública, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Kathie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Njaine
authors.affiliation: Centro Latino-Americano de Estudos de Violência e Saúde Jorge Careli, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Simone Gonçalves
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Assis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult