Relationship between emotional dependence and psychological abuse in the form of victimization and aggression in young people

Abstract

Background: on the specialized literature it has been studied the relationship between emotional dependence and dating violence in general, but not together with psychological abuse. The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between emotional dependence and psychological abuse in the form of victimization and aggression. Method: the sample consisted of 396 Spanish adolescents and young people from the general population aged between 15 and 30 years old (M = 19.36, DT = 2.60). Emotional dependence was evaluated through the Inventory of Interpersonal Relationships and Sentimental Dependencies (IRIDS-100) and the victimization or psychological aggression with the Dating Violence Questionnaire Victim Aggressor (CUVINO-VA). Results: the psychologically victimized youth and the aggressors of this type of violence have higher means of emotional dependence. Emotional dependence is not related to gender, age or level of education, while psychological abuse does have a relationship with age and educational level. Conclusions: there is a relationship between emotional dependence and psychological abuse, with the macro-factor Self-deception being the most explanatory of this relationship. It is necessary a better affective education and the promotion of research on emotional dependence given its transcendence in dating violence.