Dating Violence among Undergraduate Medical Students at a Public University in Mexico City: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) and cyber-aggression are growing problems in Mexico, but there is a dearth of information on their associated risks. We aimed to determine the prevalence of dating violence (DV) and cyber-aggression in a public campus and compared students’ acceptability of abusive DV based on their sex and sexual orientation. We employed a cross-sectional design to survey 964 first-year medical students attending a public university. We analyzed who found “acceptable” abusive behaviors from a dating partner and carried out descriptive analyses of sample characteristics by sex. We included 633 women and 331 men. Homosexual and bisexual orientation was lower among women (1.5%, 4.8%) vs. men (16.9%, 7.2%). Of women and men, respectively, 64.2% and 35.8% reported having been in a dating relationship. Experiencing abusive behaviors in the year prior to the study was associated with students’ level of “acceptability”. A total of 43.5% of the students who experienced cyber-aggression did not report any mental health consequences, 32.6% did not seek professional help, and 17.4% reported feeling depressed. Students that accepted emotionally abusive DV behaviors displayed a fourfold risk of experiencing physical abuse. Women and sexual minorities are more at risk of experiencing GBV and DV. More male students reported being victims of cyber-aggression.

Evaluation of the Perceptions and Attitudes towards Dating Violence among Medical Students

“…In the literature, there are many studies showing differences between gender and exposure to dating violence (7)(8)(9)(10)21). In our study, no significant relationship was found between gender and exposure to dating violence.…”

Genç Kadınlarda Siber Flört İstismarının Belirlenmesi

“…Kişisel Bilgi Formu: Araştırmacılar tarafından ilgili literatür taranarak (8,10,11) oluşturulan form öğrencilerin sosyo-demografik bilgileri ve romantik ilişkilerin sorgulandığı 13 sorudan oluşmaktadır.…”

“…Ölçeğin doğrudan saldırganlık ve izleme kontrol davranışı olmak üzere iki alt boyutu bulunmaktadır. Doğrudan saldırganlık boyutunda 11 madde (2,3,4,6,8,9,10,12,15,16,18. sorular), izleme kontrol boyutunda 9 madde (1,5,7,11,13,14,17,19,20.…”

“…Uluslararası düzeyde farklı ülkelerde yapılan araştırmalar, üniversite öğrencileri arasında yakın ilişkilerde istismarın oldukça yaygın olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır (2,8,9). Ülkemizde gençlerde siber flört istismarına yönelik yapılan çalışmalar oldukça sınırlıdır (10,11).…”