中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study examines the prevalence rate of dating violence among Taiwanese college students and the types of coping strategies they adopt. Methods: The research design of this study was cross-sectional and correlational. Self-reports and pen-and-paper questionnaires were employed to collect data from a national stratified random sample of 1018 college students from 28 departments in 21 colleges or universities in Taiwan. The formal sample consists of 416 males (40.7%) and 602 females (59%) with a mean age of 21 years. Results: The data showed that 59% of college students with dating experience had been victims of dating violence during the past year (psychological violence: 55.5%; physical violence: 18.6%; sexual violence: 7.6%). A total of 62.4% of participants had perpetrated violence (psychological violence: 60.6%; physical violence: 24.3%; sexual violence: 6.7%) toward their dating partners. College students victimized by violence used a wide range of coping strategies to deal with dating violence, often employing several strategies. Confronting their partner, focusing on positive aspects of the partner/relationship, seeking help from friends, and enduring were the most common strategies reported. Seeking help from professionals, seeking help from the police or legal system, seeking help from school teachers or counselors, and using alcohol or drugs were the least used strategies. The use of coping strategies was significantly associated with violence frequency, the number of types of violence, relationship characteristics (length of dating and commitment) and gender. College students who experienced more types of violence or who experienced violence more frequently were more likely to seek formal help. In addition, male students used more emotion-focused strategies and fewer problem-focused strategies than female students did. Conclusions: Despite the high prevalence of dating violence, as college students are more likely to rely on themselves and less likely to seek formal help, dating violence in Taiwan is almost invisible. Prevention and intervention programs are needed to advocate healthy non-violent relationships and to teach youth how to cope with violent conflict in intimate relationships and how to protect their own safety.