Predictors of college students' dating violence perceptions and help-seeking recommendations
Year: 2012
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Physical and psychological aggression in dating relationships is prevalent among college students (e.g., Kaura & Lohman, 2007;Shook, Gerrity, Jurich, & Segrist, 2000;Straus, 2008), and students experiencing dating IPV are most likely to speak to friends (Prospero & Vohra-Gupta, 2008).The current study investigated differences in perceptions of heterosexual dating IPV and help-seeking recommendations for a friend as a function of scenario type (e.g., male perpetrator/female victim and female perpetrator/male victim) and participant sex.The study also examined gender role attitudes and attitudes toward dating violence that have been associated with perceptions of dating IPV (e.g., Berkel et al., 2004;Coleman & Stith, 1997;Hillier & Foddy, 1993;Hilton, Harris, & Rice, 2003;Willis, Hallinan, & Melby, 1996).A college sample (N=200) read a dating IPV scenario depicting either male-to-female or female-to-male dating IPV.A series of 2x2ANCOVAs, controlling for previous exposure to IPV and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, showed that women were more likely than men to hold more egalitarian gender role attitudes, be less accepting of dating violence, perceive the behaviors in the dating scenario as more serious, and be more likely to recommend that a friend seek help at the counseling center.Participants were more likely to recommend the counseling center for female victims than male victims.Path analysis results provided initial support for a theoretical model of counseling center help-seeking recommendations.
Author: Kathleen Hutchinson
Institution: University of Akron
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2225608154