Boys Victims of Dating Violence, Too

Survey of 'at risk' teens finds males as likely as females to suffer abuse

Contrary to what many people may think, teenage boys commonly suffer dating violence -- including physical and emotional abuse, a new U.S. government study finds.

The study focused on teens considered to be at high risk for dating violence -- those who had suffered or witnessed violence at home or in their neighborhoods.

It turned out that boys were about as likely as girls to say they'd been victims of some form of dating violence. The pattern was also corroborated by girls' reports: They commonly admitted to being perpetrators.

"To the average person, this is probably surprising," said Monica Swahn, a professor of epidemiology at Georgia State University who has studied dating violence.

"Parents and pediatricians may underestimate how common dating violence is, and how often boys are victims," said Swahn, who was not involved in the study.

A number of national surveys have found that U.S. girls are far more often the victims of dating violence than boys -- particularly in terms of physical injuries.

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