Prevalence, co-occurrence and associated factors with regard to interpersonal peer violence and self-directed violence among Romanian adolescents

This study focuses on Romanian high school students and aims to assess the prevalence of different forms of interpersonal peer violence and self-directed violence, their interrelationship and factors associated with them. A cross-sectional study by means of anonymous questionnaires was performed in 2019 among 781 high-school students aged 15–19 from rural and urban areas situated in North-East Romania. It investigated involvement in the last three months as victim or perpetrator in different forms of peer violence as well as suicide ideation during lifetime, in total being investigated 9 forms of violence. 21.7% of adolescents were not exposed to any form of violence, 31.5% declared involvement in 1–2 behaviors, 24.7% in 3–4 behaviors, while 22.1% admitted involvement in 5 or even more behaviors. The study assesses for the first time in Romania the co-occurrence of different forms of violence among high school students, offering useful information for health promotion actions.