*2.1. Participants*

As it happens in other relevant qualitative studies in this field (e.g., Baley 2010; Enander and Holmber 2008; Rosen and Stith 1995; Shen 2011), respectively, with six, ten, eleven, and ten participants each, this study comprised a small sample, consisting of 13 participants, mostly female (92%), according to the following inclusion criteria: (a) participants were DV victims and all participants had already ended the abusive relationship at the time of the interview; (b) participants should be between 16 and 30 years old. The age of participants ranged from 17–30 years of age ( *M* = 25 and *SD* = 3.66 years old). In terms of victims' education, one completed the basic schooling (8.0%), two completed the 9th grade (15.4%), six completed the 12th grade (46.0%), two with university degree (15.4%) and two with master degree (15.4%). A significant number of respondents (92.3%) identified participants as being heterosexual and only one respondent reported to be homosexual. The duration of the relationship varies between one year and thirteen years (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Participants' characteristics (*n* = 13).
