Predicting emotional abuse among a sample of college students

Abstract

Objective This study aims to examine factors related to emotional abuse, an understudied type of intimate partner violence (IPV), among a sample of college students. Participants: 601 undergraduates from one large public university in the Midwestern United States (Spring 2017) and 756 undergraduates from one large public university in the Southern United States (Fall 2019) participated in the study. Methods: Participants completed an online survey measuring demographic information, behavioral variables (viewing porn, alcohol consumption, and hooking up), and history of violence (witnessing a father abuse his spouse, emotional abuse history). Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analyses predicting emotional abuse victimization were conducted. Results: Results indicate female, white, older students were more likely to report emotional abuse. Also, students witnessing their father abuse his spouse, frequent pornography use, increased alcohol use, and frequent hookups increased odds of emotional abuse. Conclusion: College campuses should consider emphasizing emotional abuse in IPV programing.

Keywords:

• College campuses
• health education
• intimate partner violence
• prevention
• psychological abuse