Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a globally pervasive phenomenon that has longterm severe physical and mental health consequences. At the individual level, IPV victimization of female students represents a significant developmental challenge in their life course. The early experience of IPV in relationships is antecedent to continued violence in cohabitating relationships and marriage, which makes IPV among female students an important area to study.
Objective: The present study adopted conflict theory and a socio-ecological model to (a) estimate the prevalence of various forms of IPV, (b) examine the association between IPV and psychological outcomes such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and (c) examine the association between IPV and academic persistence among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) attending female students in India.
Method: The present study used a cross-sectional survey to measure IPV and its adverse outcomes. A total of 386 participants were recruited, comprising female students in the age range of 18-29 currently studying in any Indian HEI. Key variables were measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale-Revised (CTS-2), Cyber-Dating Abuse Questionnaire (CDAQ), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), PTSD-Checklist 5 (PCL-5), and College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) for measuring academic persistence. Results: Almost 70% of the participants had experienced at least one form of IPV (psychological IPV, physical IPV, injuries, sexual IPV, and/or digital IPV) in the last two years. The prevalence of psychological IPV was found to be 59.1%, followed by digital IPV (42.2%), sexual IPV (31.1%), physical IPV (29.8%), and injuries (18.4%). Bivariate analysis indicated statistically significant associations between experiencing IPV and higher depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and lower academic persistence. Further, independent t-tests indicated higher depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and lower academic persistence scores among IPV victims. Lastly, ANOVA tests indicated higher depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and lower academic persistence scores among participants with exposure to multiple forms of IPV.
Discussion: The prevalence of various forms of IPV in the current sample of female students was found to be high with significant associations with adverse mental health and lower academic persistence. Implications for research, policy formulation, and clinical practitioners are discussed. Keywords: Intimate partner violence, Higher education institutions, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Depression, Academic persistence