1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study provides valuable insight on the needs of adolescents and emerging adults who are dealing with issues in their romantic relationships and experiencing DV [dating violence].» (p. 48)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«This study targeted 80 youths (40 girls and 40 boys) aged between 15 and 20 years old […] who identified themselves as heterosexuals and French-Canadian. To be eligible, participants had to be in a dating relationship for more than 2 months at the time of the study. […] Potential participants were recruited through youth organizations from the greater Montreal area, by youth workers who were susceptible of being in contact with adolescents and emerging adults from their living environments […], by direct solicitation, flyer distribution, informational booths, and through word of mouth.» (p. 43)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

Results reveal that «[m]any youths who participated in this study seemed reluctant to disclose difficulties they had experienced in their romantic relationships and often tried to manage them on their own. Because adolescents have a strong desire to develop their autonomy during this stage, they can be more reluctant to ask for help when they are coping with dating relationship issues, especially from adults […]. Moreover, among the participants who had experienced DV, several adolescents indicated that they did not seek help or support. This could be explained by the fact that they may not recognize their romantic relationship difficulties and experiences of DV. Indeed, youth often have few benchmarks related to healthy romantic relationships. They have difficulty labeling situations of coercion and violence, as they are often perceived as proofs of love […]. These results shed light on the potential influence of adolescents’ representations of romantic relationships and DV on the informal and formal help-seeking process, and the importance of taking this into account in future research. Also, the results of our study indicate that some youths did not seek help because they did not have anyone in their social network to turn to for help.» (p. 48)