The Relationship between Father Involvement and Dating Violence in Middle Adolescent

摘要

Dating violence is a form of aggressive behavior that is often shown as a form of problem-solving by adolescents when they conflict with their partner. However, such behavior can be prevented by parent involvement role, such as father involvement. Past studies have suggested that father involvement was significantly associated with the decline in children problem behavior in general. The current correlation study was conducted to examine the relationship between father involvement and dating violence in middle adolescence Father involvement was measured using Father Involvement Scale and Dating violence behavior was measured using The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. The participants of this study were 354 adolescents aged 14 - 18 years. The result showed that both behavioral (r = -0.095; p<0.05) and affective domain of father involvement (r = -0.152; p<0.01) were negatively correlated with dating violence behavior in middle adolescents, suggesting that the more involved the father was, the lower the dating violence behavior shown by middle adolescents. The implication of these findings on father-child relationship and the rate of aggressive and violence behavior is discussed.