NEWS Report: Dating Violence Affecting Teens Too "FACING ABUSE"

NEWS Report: Dating Violence affecting Teens too "FACING ABUSE"
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About 3% of 12-to 17-years-old girls are
Physically or sexually assaulted by a boyfriend
Or date, a US study suggest.
In interviews with a nationally representation
Sample of US teens, researchers found that 2.7%
Of girls and 0.6% of boys said they had been the victim of serious dating violence _ including
Physical abuse, sexual assault or being threatened
with a weapon.
The finding offer some insight into the prevalence
of the problem, as well as some of its consequences,
according to lead researcher Kate B Wolitzky-Taylor
who is now at University of Texas at Austin. she and her colleagues at the Medical University
of South Carolina, Charleston, found that teenagers
who said they'd been the victims of dating violence
were nearly four times more likely to have experienced
symptoms of past-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
or major depression. The study did not look at less-
severe forms of violence, such as being shoved or
slapped without injury, and did not assess verbal abuse. So the percentage of teens in abusive relationships may
be higher.
The bottom line, according to the researchers, is that
dating violence need to be detected early, by parents,
doctors or school assessment and prevented when
ever possible. Teaching middle school students how
to handle confects in there relationship might help
them later on to manage relationship. In addition, Taylor said teens who have friends
in a violent relationship should be taught to
report the situation to an adult.