Citation

Yamada N, Yamada M. Bosei Eisei 2010; 51(2): 311-319.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Japan Society of Maternal Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Purpose: Dating violence (DaV) among high school students was researched to accelerate talks among the stakeholders and establish measures. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted on 3,054 students in a prefecture located approximately 800km from Tokyo. Results The response rate of the questionnaire was 97.4%. 758 females (42%) and 609 males (52.1%) of the respondents reported they had experienced DaV assaults with significant difference in the sexual predilection (P=0.000). Respondents who reported themselves as victims of DaV were 33.4% females and 29.8% males. The types of reported DaV included verbal abuse (724 respondents), physical abuse (545 respondents) and sexual abuse (74 respondents). Among the 1,608 respondents who experienced DaV, 294 (21.2%) consulted with another person. Two hundred thirty three (233) of these respondents talked to their friends. The female/male ratio of those who reported their experiences showed a significant difference (p=0.000), 28% (female) and 11% (male). Males incline not to express their own feelings. Conclusions and Suggestions Over 40% of the students responding to this survey had experiences of DaV. Among them, over 80% of the victims had not shared their experiences with others. An interesting tendency of the male victims was found in this study. They were prone to receive physical abuse and also to not utilize consultation opportunities compared with the female victims. The trauma was, therefore, more likely to be embedded in their memories.