Resistance or Acceptance of Abusive Behaviors in Romantic Relationships in Low Income and Urban Puerto Rican Adolescents Using a Unified Theory of Behavior

Background and Purpose: Recent data has demonstrated an increase in the incidence of romantic relationship violence perpetration and victimization in low income Puerto Rican adolescents, particularly physical and psychological violence.  Studies addressing the pathways to romantic relationship violence from a developmental perspective were not found in the Puerto Rican literature.  In addition, the literature on romantic relationship violence suggests the role family violence, gender, and gender roles attitudes play in romantic relationship violence, and these factors have also not been considered collectively in the Puerto Rican and Latino literature.    

This study aimed to document adolescents’ perceived resistance or acceptance of physical and psychological abusive behaviors in romantic relationships in low income, urban neighborhoods of Puerto Rico.  The study explored how the resistance or acceptance of those behaviors varied by gender, developmental stage, and perceptions of family violence in the adolescents’ families of origin.  As the study sought to understand how those distal variables influenced resistance and acceptance, it explored the role of a core set of mediators: orientation to gender roles; and the five classes of decision determinants suggested by the Unified Theory of Behavior (UTB)—behavioral beliefs, social norms, self-concept/social images, emotions, and self-efficacy. 

Methods: This qualitative cross sectional study with an elicitation analysis component relied on in-depth semi-structured interviews to address the research questions.  The interviews consisted of two parts.  The first part focused on adolescents’ views on gender roles, and gender relations in romantic relationships, and their lived experiences with families, including violence incidents. The second part zeroed in on the five classes of decision determinants, as suggested by the UTB.  Using area sampling methodology, participants were sampled for the following developmental groups: early adolescence (grades 7^th-8^th), middle adolescence (grades 9^th-11^th), and late adolescence (grades 12-4^thyear of college).  Each group had 16 participants for a sample of 48. Data was transcribed and analyzed using ATLAS.ti, and applying thematic, content, and elicitation analysis principles.    

Findings: The findings revealed that adolescents’ decision to resist or accept physical and psychological abusive behaviors was influenced by gender role views, and some of the UTB’s decision determinants.  Developmental stage and gender variations were found across several emerging themes. The findings suggest that the salient factors influencing adolescents’ decision to accept or resist abusive behaviors were: 1) hostile and aggressive gendered play dynamics, 2) gender role stereotypes and expectations, 3) family and peers gender role views in romantic relationships, 4) behavioral beliefs about abuse, and 5) self-concept and social images.  The findings also suggest adolescents were more accepting of psychological abusive behaviors. 

Conclusion and Implications: This study represents the first stage of a larger quantitative study aiming to develop an evidence-based prevention intervention for Puerto Rican adolescents to help them resist abusive behaviors in romantic relationships. Findings highlight the need for social workers to further study developmental and gender variations in regards to personal, family, and peer gender role views and expectations, as well as behavioral beliefs, social norms, and self-concept and social images in romantic relationships, particularly for psychological abusive behaviors.