Resilience and dating violence: An explanatory-predictive and instrumental study with Colombian adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Studies on resilience and psychological violence in adolescent couples in Colombia are scarce, since violence in adult couples has been explored more frequently; in ad-dition, the availability of optimal instruments for measuring psychological violence in adolescent courtship is limited. Objectives: Analyze the influence of resilience on psychological violence in adolescent couples; for this, the Psychological Violence Questionnaire in Partners (PVD-Q) was initially validated. Method: The study is explanatory-predictive and instrumental. The inciden-tal sample consisted of 700 Colombian adolescents, aged 15 to 20 years (M = 18.40; SD = 1.56; 29.3 % men). Reliability, content and construct validity were recognized with factor analysis; Subsequently, structural equation models (SEM) were analyzed. Results: Adequate evidence of validity and optimal reliability values of the PVD-Q were recognized. The SEM model suggests inverse influences of personal competence on the role of aggression and victimization; as well as a direct influence of the acceptance of oneself and life on victimization. Conclusions: Low levels of acceptance of oneself and of life could be a risk factor for victimization; while a high development of personal skills would be a protective factor against victimization and aggression in adolescent courtship. The PVD-Q has optimal psychometric properties and is suitable for measuring psychological violence in couples of Colombian adolescents.