[An investigation on the epidemic situation of intimate partner violence in 2,575 college students].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of love affairs and intimate partner violence, and to explore the relationship between intimate partner violence and other mental health and risk behavior in college students. METHODS Three universities were selected using cluster sampling method in Hefei and Wuhu. Totally, 2575 college students completed an anonymous questionnaire. Intimate partner violence, depression, satisfaction of school life, self-esteem, suicidal psychology and behavior were evaluated to estimate the relationship between intimate partner violence and mental health/risk behavior. RESULTS There were 46.9% students reported that they had intimate partner currently or in the past. The rate of having intimate partner in male students was higher than that in female students (χ(2) = 44.13, P < 0.001). And the rates were higher in sophomores and juniors than in freshmen (χ(2) = 161.84, P < 0.05). There were 21.1% students had sexual behavior with their intimate partners. But only 21.8% (34/156) intimate partners reported that they used condom every time. There were 11.5% (18/156) intimate partners reported that they never took any contraception. There were 18.6% (29/156) students reported that they were pregnant or led to their girlfriend becoming pregnant, but only less than 50.0% adolescents induced abortion in a legal hospitals. The rates of being the victim of physical assault, emotional abuse, sexual coercion, the total intimate partner violence were 18.0%, 33.6%, 5.1%, 37.1%. The rates of being the victim of physical assault, emotional abuse, total intimate partner violence in male adolescents were higher than those in female adolescents, but the rate of sexual coercion was on the contrary (χ(2) = 70.21, 13.25, 14.04, 5.77, P < 0.05). Among the intimate partners who had suffered from intimate partner, 74.2% (345/446) students had underwent more than 3 times, and 47.1% had underwent more than 2 types of intimate partner violence. The score of depression was highest in the victims of intimate partner violence, but the scores of self-esteem and school life satisfaction were on the contrary (F = 4.00, 16.39, 8.76, P < 0.05). The rates of suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, suicidal preparative and attempted suicide were highest in the victims of intimate partner violence (χ(2) = 13.80, 9.72, 8.52, 11.96, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The rate of having sexual behavior with their intimate partners was high in college students, but their self-protection awareness was insufficient. In the present study, a high prevalence of intimate partner violence among university students was observed, and highlighted a need for attention to the other mental health and risk behavior in adolescents with intimate partner violence.