Experiences of Physical Violence Among Adolescent Boys and Girls: Changes Over Time in Perpetrator Relationship, Incident Location, and Disclosure

Abstract This study examines experiences of physical violence among adolescent boys and girls, focusing on how incident location, perpetrator relationship, and disclosure change over time. Using data from the Malmö Individual and Neighborhood Development Study (MINDS), a sample of Swedish adolescents was followed across three waves spanning the transition from compulsory to upper secondary school. A longitudinal approach was used to assess changes in exposure and its contexts for boys and girls. Overall exposure declined significantly among girls, while the decline among boys was smaller and not statistically significant. Among boys who experienced violence, incidents became more likely to occur in public settings and to involve unknown perpetrators, while incidents in semi-public environments such as schools became less common. Among girls, victimization in private settings also increased over time. However, interaction analyses indicated that the only contextual trajectory that differed significantly between boys and girls was the increase in public location victimization. Across waves, semi-public peer settings remained the most common context of victimization for both boys and girls. Disclosure patterns were stable, with most adolescents reporting incidents to informal sources and little change in formal reporting. A small subgroup experienced repeated victimization across waves, with contextual characteristics largely similar to those observed among adolescents victimized only once. The findings suggest different developmental patterns for boys and girls, with declining exposure among girls and an increasing occurrence of victimization in public settings among boys.