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Romantic Attachment, Conflict Resolution Styles, and Teen Dating Violence Victimization

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Although research on dating violence has increased in the last decades, little is known about the role of romantic attachment and conflict resolution in understanding victimization by an intimate partner among adolescents. This study examined the relationships between insecure attachment styles, destructive conflict resolution strategies, self-reported and perceived in the partner, and psychological and physical victimization by a dating partner in 1298 adolescents (49% girls). Anxious attachment was related to both forms of victimization via self-reported conflict engagement and conflict engagement attributed to the partner among boys and girls. Moreover, both insecure attachment styles were also indirectly linked to victimization via self-reported withdrawal and conflict engagement perceived in the partner, but only among boys. The implications of the findings for promoting constructive communication patterns among adolescents for handling their relationship conflicts are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the high schools in Tenerife for their support. This research was supported in part by the Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad (Spain) and the European Social Fund under Grant 53/12.

Author’s Contributions

H.B. and R.G.-M. designed the study and collected the data, H.B. and B.K. analyzed and interpreted the data. H.B. prepared the manuscript with input from B.K. and R.G.-M. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad de La Laguna, Campus of Guajara, 38205, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    Helena Bonache & Rosaura Gonzalez-Mendez

  2. University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Barbara Krahé

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  1. Helena Bonache
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  2. Rosaura Gonzalez-Mendez
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  3. Barbara Krahé
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Correspondence to Helena Bonache.

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Universidad de La Laguna.

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Informed consent was obtained from the heads of the participating high schools, from participants’ parents, and from all participants.

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Bonache, H., Gonzalez-Mendez, R. & Krahé, B. Romantic Attachment, Conflict Resolution Styles, and Teen Dating Violence Victimization. J Youth Adolescence 46, 1905–1917 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0635-2

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