Characteristics of Young People who use Family Violence in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: An Age-based Analysis

Purpose There is a lack of research examining age-related differences in the characteristics of young people who use family violence between key developmental periods. This study provides a population-based descriptive overview of young people who come to police attention for using family violence and examines how characteristics differ across early adolescence (10–14 years), late adolescence (15–19 years) and young adulthood (20–24 years). Method The sample comprised all youth aged 10–24 years ( N = 5014) who were reported to police for using family violence over a four-month period in 2019. Chi-square analyses with odds ratios as a measure of effect size were used to examine age-related differences in sociodemographic, psychosocial, and family violence-related characteristics across the three age groups. A Kaplan Meier survival curve was used to examine age-based differences in time to family violence recidivism. Results Findings suggested that young people who used family violence were typically male, disproportionately from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and a significant minority experienced mental health issues. Substance abuse and unemployment/school truancy were higher among those in late adolescence and young adulthood, while accessibility needs, and childhood victimisation were highest among those in early adolescence. Child-to-parent abuse was highest among those in early- and late-adolescence, while intimate partner abuse was highest among those in young adulthood. There was no significant difference in time to family violence recidivism among the groups. Conclusion The findings of this study highlight the variation in characteristics of youth family violence according to three key developmental periods. Such information may be used to inform assessment and intervention approaches for this cohort.