Risk factors for dating violence victimization and perpetration among high school students in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Background: The 2012 Haiti Demographic and Health Survey revealed that 43 percent of adolescent girls who were currently married or in union were victims of emotional, physical or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV), a marked increase from the year 2000.   However, little research has been done on risk factors for dating violence victimization and perpetration among in-school adolescents in Haiti. 

Methods: Data were drawn from a baseline evaluation survey of a randomized experiment of four high schools, the objectives of which were to test the effectiveness of a curriculum for primary and secondary prevention of dating violence.  Data were gathered in 2013 before the program started from 473 students in grades 10-12, using self-administered questionnaires.  Chi-square analysis, t-tests and multiple linear regression models were used to determine bivariate associations and risk factors for dating violence.

Results: Approximately 98 percent of students had experienced psychological victimization and three out of four, physical/sexual victimization in the past six months.  Levels of perpetration were slightly lower.  Risk factors for dating violence victimization and perpetration, regardless of type, included destructive anger response, acceptance of dating violence norms, perceiving more positive consequences of dating violence, and family history of wife-perpetrated IPV. Gender stereotyping was a risk factor for psychological violence victimization and physical/sexual violence perpetration. Females had significantly higher scales of  physical/sexual violence perpetration than males, after controlling for other factors.

Conclusions: Findings call for school-based programs that address both sexes, change norms associated with partner violence, promote constructive responses to anger, and decrease gender stereotyping.