Experiences of Relationship Victimization,Stress,and Breakup Behaviors Among University Students: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Experiencing violence from an abusive partner in a relationship is detrimental to people’s lives and is classified as a public health problem. This analytical study aimed to analyze the associations between experiences of dating victimization, stress, and breakup-related behaviors among university students. It determined the associations between perception of dating violence, stress, and relationship situation in university students and identified the predictors of victimization by dating violence. The participants were 429 students belonging to three higher education institutions in Ecuador. The Dating Violence Questionnaire (DVQ-VP), complementary questions for analysis of breakup-related behaviors and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used for data collection. Victims of repeated violence reported higher levels of stress compared with those who were victims of sporadic violence (DVQ-V and PSS; p < .05 and SE ≤ 0.2). In the breakup-related behaviors to end the relationship, number of attempts presented a moderate association (ES ≤ 0.6) with victimization due to repeated abuse. The results highlight the importance of recognizing dating violence victimization, stress levels, and breakup-related behaviors to design dating violence prevention programs for college students. The study indicates the need for specific counseling measures in universities to increase awareness of abusive behaviors within dating relationships and emphasize the factors that promote the identification of warning signs, for example, stress or normalization of violent behaviors in a relationship.