Study of the prevalence of the tactics employed by Ecuadorian adolescents to conflict solving in dating relations

Objective: With the aim of knowing about the prevalence of the tactics employed by Ecuadorian adolescents to conflict solving in dating relations, the association with gender, the directionality and the frequency of use was designed. Method: A total of 985 Ecuadorian adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years (M = 15.02, SD = 1.72) answered to the Spanish adaptation of the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale referred to dating relationships. Results: The results exhibited the highest prevalence of use for the reasoning tactic; that the psychological violence tactic is frequently employed and by the large majority (4/5); that the unidirectional use prevails; that boys has a significantly high probability of victimization than girls, and girls perform more tactics of psychological violence and mild physical violence; and that serious physical violence is behaved with a low frequency, but the prevalence rate is significant. Conclusions: The implications of the results for the prevention and intervention policies with violence in dating relationships are discussed.