Will You Make Me Happy? The Role of Dating and Dating Violence Victimisation in Happiness Among Adolescents in Europe

 Purpose:  the  aim  of  the  article  is  to  show  the  role  of  dating  and  dating  violence  victimi-sation, different socioeconomic characteristics, personal experiences of abuse, perceived social support, and the ability to resolve social problems in happiness among adolescents in  Europe.Methods:  the  study  had  a  cross-sectional  design.  The  study  participants  were  1.528  students  from  secondary  schools  (age  13–16)  in  Spain,  Italy,  Romania,  Portugal,  Poland,  and  the  UK.  In  order  to  understand  which  variables  were  associated  with  happiness,  we  fit multiple regression models.Results:  the  mean  value  of  happiness  is  lower  when  teens  are  in  a  romantic  or  dating  relationship and have suffered physical and/or sexual violence [β (CI 95%): -1.32(-2.41; -0.22)].Both not being a victim of bullying and cyberbullying [β(CI 95%):0.90 (0.38; 1.41)] and not witnessing domestic violence against the mother β(CI 95%):1.97(1.06; 2.87)] is associated  with  relatively  higher  mean  happiness  value  compared  to  having  such  experi-ences of violence. Also, problem-solving skills [β (CI 95%):0.13 (0.11; 0.14)] and percep-tion of social support [β (CI 95%): 0.03 (0.02, 0.03)] is positively associated with mean value  of  happiness.Conclusions: there is an association between dating violence victimisation, and happi-ness among adolescents in Europe. The results suggest the importance of creating healthy, non-violent  romantic  relationships  to  build  happiness  during  adolescence,  the  importance  of seeking social support and to provide educational interventions focused on the develop-ment  of  problem-solving  skills.