Exposure to domestic violence and its effects on adolescents: A survey among Turkish students.

Problem: Exposure to domestic violence is an important social problem. What remains unknown are the effects of domestic violence on Turkish adolescents.

Methods: This study was performed in Kırıkkale, Turkey, to determine the state of verbal and/or physical domestic violence and its effects on adolescent behavior. A total of 1,807 students (44.4% female and 55.6% male) with a mean age of 15.1 ± 1.6 years at two high schools and five elementary schools were enrolled in the study and completed questionnaires that surveyed their exposure to domestic violence and its possible relationship to their disruptive behaviors.

Findings: Twenty-three percent of the students were exposed to violence. Among those, 75% had been exposed to violence within the family, 53% by their friends and 17% by their teachers. Of those exposed to domestic violence, 70% were exposed only verbally and 24% only physically. The economic level of the family, gender, marital status of the parents, and education level of the father were significant factors on violence exposure within the family. The results showed that the rates of being involved in a fight, getting injured at a fight, using a gun, bringing knives (mostly pocket knives) to school and using it were higher in children exposed to domestic violence than with the children who were not.

Conclusions: To address the impact of domestic violence on teens and possibly decrease the adolescent's violent behavior and its consequences, policies aiming to reduce violence in the social environments of adolescents are needed.