Marina Muñoz-Rivas

Analysis of the Indicators of Pathological Internet Use in Spanish University Students

Addiction to and problematic use of the Internet are relatively recent phenomena whose scope, characteristics and correlates have begun to receive increasing attention by clinicians and researchers alike. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between time spent connected to the Internet and the variables that indicate a pathological and addictive use of this technological resource. The sample was comprised of 1,301 university students of both sexes (927 women and 374 men), with ages ranging from 18 to 30 years old. The results showed that, although most people use the Internet appropriately, users who invest higher quantities of time in the Internet more frequently exhibit connection behavior that is controlled through negative reinforcement, a high degree of arousal when online, loss of control over connection behavior, changes in health-related habits, and interference in the social, family, academic, or work spheres. These findings suggest that excessive Internet use is associated with the onset of several problems that are similar to those associated with other behavioral and technological addictions.

Age-Related Changes in Dating Aggression in Spanish High School Students

Prevention programs for dating partner aggression should be based on knowledge about when such aggression starts and how it changes. Given the very few studies regarding such trends, changes in physical, psychological, and sexual aggression against dating partners were examined in 14- to 20-year-old Spanish high school students (N = 2,016). Overall, psychological aggression increased linearly, whereas physical aggression had a negative quadratic association, peaking at 16 to 17 years for males and females. Sexual aggression was infrequent, but it spiked at age 16 for males. Although physical aggression diminished in late adolescence, injuries as a consequence of such aggression increased linearly for females, and they were also significantly higher for females (14.9%) than for males (3%) at ages 18 to 20 years. The findings support the hypothesis that dating physical aggression for males and females peaks during middle-to-late adolescence and shows a similar developmental pattern to other antisocial and criminal behaviors. Prevention of dating aggression, escalation of such aggression, and prevention of injury should consider developmental trends in dating aggression.

Validation of the Attitudes About Aggression in Dating Situations (AADS) and the Justification of Verbal/Coercive Tactics Scale (JVCT) in Spanish Adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of two instruments that assess attitudes justifying use of aggression in adolescents’ dating relationships: the Attitudes About Aggression in Dating Situations (AADS) and the Justification of Verbal/Coercive Tactics Scale (JVCT). The sample was made up of 2,856 adolescents from different high schools of Madrid. Results supported the three-factor structure for the AADS and the six-factor structure for the JVCT, which was consistent with the theory and with previous research. As expected, the relation between attitudes and aggressive behavior was between small and moderate but significant in most cases. Furthermore, attitudes differed depending on the type of violence, the respondent’s sex, and on whether aggression is carried out by a man or a woman. Finally, the potential applications of these two scales are discussed, and it is concluded that both constitute useful tools to assess justification of aggression in dating relationships in young couples.