Associations between knowledge level and attitudes towards cyber-dating abuse and dating violence in nursing students

Abstract

BackgroundDating violence is an increasing issue among young people and affects them psychologically. It also includes characteristics like controlling and/or monitoring. Cyber-dating abuse is dating violence characterized as harassing another person in a romantic connection via texting or online emails to control, threaten, or stalk them. ObjectivesThis study was conducted to investigate nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards dating, dating violence, and cyber-dating violence. DesignThis is a descriptive cross-sectional study. ParticipantsThe sample consisted of 448 nursing students from three universities in Istanbul, Turkey. MethodsData were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Dating Violence Knowledge Form (DVKF), the Dating Violence Scale (DVS), and the Cyber-Dating Abuse Questionnaire (CDAQ). ResultsParticipants had a mean age of 20.9 ± 1.9 years. Most participants were women (83.7 %). More than a quarter of the participants were involved in romantic relationships (30.6 %). Participants had a mean DVKF score of 82.0 ± 9.1. One in ten participants was subjected to dating violence (11.2 %). Participants had a mean DVS score of 4.69 ± 0.25. There was no significant difference in CDAQ scores between participants who used violence (28.3 ± 11.5) and those subjected to violence (27.0 ± 8.9). There was a negative correlation between participants' DVKF and CDAQ scores (p < 0.05). The results showed that participants had a high DVKF score and disapproved of dating violence. Participants with a higher DVKF score were less likely to use or be exposed to cyber violence. ConclusionsIn conclusion, we should develop interventions to strengthen young people's mental health because they are subjected to dating violence. Nurse educators and nurses should also plan interventions to protect young people's mental health and raise their awareness of cyber violence.