Citation

Diaz Olavarrieta C, Villa AR, Guerrero López B, Vargas Huicochea I, García-Medina S, Aburto Arciniega M, Alonso Catalán M, Fajardo Dolci GE, Medina-Mora Icaza ME. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023; 20(4): e3104.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph20043104

PMID

36833800

PMCID

PMC9963753

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.

Language: en

Keywords

Mexico; medical students; gender-based violence; dating violence