Dating violence perpetration by male and female adolescents

Prior research has demonstrated that teen dating violence (DV) perpetration is highly prevalent and has serious impact on health and wellbeing. Less is known about offender behaviour specificities and differences between boys and girls. The current study aims to identify and distinguish some of those differences. The prevalence of adolescent dating violence using a representative sample within the Portuguese context, was also examined. The sample consisted of 2,347 offenders (44.2% male) between 11 and 21 years of age, after removing participants with high levels of social desirability. Reports on the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), and the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) were used to detect significant differences between male and female aggression behaviour characteristics. Results provided evidence that both genders tend to present predominantly reactive aggression and higher levels of hostility. Concerning callous-unemotional traits, female offenders reveal more uncaring behaviour and male offenders show more callousness in their dating relationships. Recommendations for future practice and research are also presented.