Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-1-2025

Journal

Violence and Victims

DOI

10.1891/VV-2023-0068

PMID

40280767

PMCID

PMC13011706

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-25-2026

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Despite accumulating research on help-seeking among violence victims, little is known about help-seeking among youth who use violence. In a racially and ethnically diverse sample of early adolescents (N=2,676; 50.3% female; Mage=12.67), participants self-reported physical bullying, physical fighting, physical dating violence perpetration, and help-seeking intentions over the past year. T-tests and one-way ANOVAs examined help-seeking by sex and race, respectively. Prevalence and comparisons of help-seeking across youth with and without any violence were examined. Youth who used any physical peer violence (n=965) reported lower help-seeking intentions than their peers, and among violent youth, males reported higher help-seeking intentions than females. Overall, peers and caregivers were rated the most likely sources of support for adolescent personal problems. Findings underscore the need for universal violence prevention to equip youth, caregivers, and community members with help-seeking psychoeducation.

Keywords

Humans, Female, Male, Adolescent, Peer Group, Help-Seeking Behavior, Adolescent Behavior, Crime Victims, Child, Bullying, help-seeking, peer violence, perpetration, physical violence use, early adolescents

Published Open-Access

yes

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