Teen dating violence is increasingly recognised as a public health problem due to numerous devastating consequences for the mental health of young people. Due to that, there is a need to investigate individual protective factors, who reduces the risks of teen dating abuse. The goal of this paper is to examine the relationship between committing and experiencing different types of teen dating abuse and selected individual protective factors among high school students of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County. Individual protective factors included in this research are: self-awareness and self-efficacy, empathy, problem solving and the existence of goals and aspirations for the future. The survey was conducted on a sample of 1071 secondary school pupils in the period from 23 May 2022 to 20 June 2022 and is part of an institutional project at the Faculty of Education and rehabilitation. The final sample shall cover 393 participants. Moreover, the following instruments were used: The questionnaire of teen dating violence perpetration (Ajduković, Löw i Sušac, 2011); The questionnaire of teen dating violence victimazation (Ajduković, Löw i Sušac, 2011) and Resilience and Youth Development Module (PMORM; WestEd and CDE, 2000, 2001). Data were analysed via descriptive statistics, correlation, Spearman's correlation coefficient and Kolmogorov – Smirnov's test. This research established the existence of a statistically significant connection between youth violence and empathy, self-awareness, self-efficacy and goals and aspirations for the future. In particular, the results showed that: 1) as the level of empathy increases, the frequency of committing sexual violence and experiencing physical violence decreases; 2) as the pursuit of goals and aspirations for the future increases, the frequency of committing sexual violence in youth relationships decreases; 3) as the level of self-efficacy increases, the frequency of experiencing teen dating violence decreases, especially psychological forms of violence and 4) as the level of self-awareness increases, the frequency of committing teen dating violence decreases, especially psychological and physical forms of violence and also, the frequency of experiencing teen dating violence decreases, especially psychological and sexual forms of violence in adolescent relationships. Self-awareness has proven to be a very important protective factor, since it is mostly related to experiencing and committing different types of teen dating violence. The results of this research can contribute to awareness of the importance of directing youth violence prevention programs towards recognizing and empowering youth's protective factors, developing a empathy and positive self-image along with developing adolescents personal interests and desires for the future.