Adolescents and Violence

Adolescence is a unique developmental period in which youth are at heightened risk for violence perpetration and victimization, both of which can adversely affect the course of normal psychosocial development and health across the life course.

The possible range of violent experiences during adolescence is broad, including physical and relational peer violence, bullying, sexual violence, cyber-aggression, child maltreatment, exposure to parental intimate partner violence, exposure to aggressive media, and more.

The 8 articles in this special issue span this wide range of violence experiences. In helping to fill gaps in knowledge about the nature and processes by which violence develops, and how violence experiences affect adolescents, these articles as a group also offer direction for future research.