Other Titles

Promoting health among victims of intimate partner violence

Abstract

Purpose: Although intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide public health issue affecting millions of people, adolescents and young adults are disproportionally affected. IPV is a complex problem primarily because it is influenced by a web of risks and protective factors, which interact and shape the experiences of each person. However, the exact nature of these interactions is not well understood, particularly among emerging adults and in cultures where gender norms are rapidly changing and less IPV research has been conducted, such as in Costa Rica. Specifically, little is known about the effect of sociocultural factors on the experiences of IPV among this population. The purpose of this correlational descriptive study was to assess the role of parents' background, area of origin, religious commitment, and gender and partnership stereotypes on the attitudes toward IPV among college students in Costa Rica. Methods: A convenience sample of undergraduate college students recruited from a Costa Rican public university completed an electronic self-report survey (N=249). Students reported their attitudes toward IPV, gender norms, partnership stereotypes, level of religious commitment, and parents' background. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Analysis was controlled by gender, sexual identity, religious attendance, marital status, and parents' marital status. Results: Although all the proposed variables were not significantly associated with attitudes toward IPV except partnership stereotypes (p=.001), IPV attitudes were significantly associated with gender (p=.001), marital status (p=<.001), and religious attendance (p=.026). The indirect effect of partnership stereotypes through religious attendance on the attitudes toward IPV was also significant (p=.03). In addition, path analysis results indicated that religious attendance was significantly linked to partnership stereotypes (p=.005) and religious commitment (p<.001), while parents' background was significantly related to religious commitment (p=.007). Conclusion: Findings elucidate how college students' attitudes toward IPV in Costa Rica are shaped through the interaction of multilevel sociocultural factors. Implications of the study and recommendations for nursing, research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Author Details

Derby Munoz-Rojas, RN

Sigma Membership

Beta Tau

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence, College Students, Sociocultural Factors

Conference Name

26th International Nursing Research Congress

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Conference Year

2015

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Share

COinS
 

Influence of sociocultural factors on the attitudes toward intimate partner violence among college students in Costa Rica

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Purpose: Although intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide public health issue affecting millions of people, adolescents and young adults are disproportionally affected. IPV is a complex problem primarily because it is influenced by a web of risks and protective factors, which interact and shape the experiences of each person. However, the exact nature of these interactions is not well understood, particularly among emerging adults and in cultures where gender norms are rapidly changing and less IPV research has been conducted, such as in Costa Rica. Specifically, little is known about the effect of sociocultural factors on the experiences of IPV among this population. The purpose of this correlational descriptive study was to assess the role of parents' background, area of origin, religious commitment, and gender and partnership stereotypes on the attitudes toward IPV among college students in Costa Rica. Methods: A convenience sample of undergraduate college students recruited from a Costa Rican public university completed an electronic self-report survey (N=249). Students reported their attitudes toward IPV, gender norms, partnership stereotypes, level of religious commitment, and parents' background. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Analysis was controlled by gender, sexual identity, religious attendance, marital status, and parents' marital status. Results: Although all the proposed variables were not significantly associated with attitudes toward IPV except partnership stereotypes (p=.001), IPV attitudes were significantly associated with gender (p=.001), marital status (p=<.001), and religious attendance (p=.026). The indirect effect of partnership stereotypes through religious attendance on the attitudes toward IPV was also significant (p=.03). In addition, path analysis results indicated that religious attendance was significantly linked to partnership stereotypes (p=.005) and religious commitment (p<.001), while parents' background was significantly related to religious commitment (p=.007). Conclusion: Findings elucidate how college students' attitudes toward IPV in Costa Rica are shaped through the interaction of multilevel sociocultural factors. Implications of the study and recommendations for nursing, research, practice, and policy are discussed.