Date of Award

6-2023

Document Type

Open Access

Department

Sociology

Second Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Rosemary Patterson

Second Advisor

Catherine Walker

Language

English

Keywords

IPV, college students, services, service utilization, mental health

Abstract

Objective: About one in four women and almost one in ten men will experience some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetime (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Individuals aged 18-24, which is the age range of many college students, are considered a high-risk population for experiencing IPV and its subsequent mental and physical health consequences (Truman et al., 2014). These consequences may be in addition to the increased mental, physical, and emotional risks that attending college already imposes, further emphasizing the need for mental health support on college campuses (Pedrelli et al., 2015). There is also a gap in previous research examining college campus mental health services. Therefore, the current study is unique in examining the quality and accessibility of the college campus mental health services at Union College for students who have experienced IPV. Method: 96 student participants from Union College completed a Qualtrics survey assessing their experience with IPV, attitudes toward help-seeking, and service utilization experiences. Expert clinician interviews were conducted with three clinicians at Union College's counseling center over Zoom in a semi-structured format. Results: A regression analysis ran on the student survey data showed that IPV and attitudes toward help-seeking were not predictors of service utilization. Consistent with the hypothesis, a correlation statistical analysis showed that the relationship between IPV and service utilization was not statistically significant, while the relationship between attitudes toward help-seeking and service utilization was statistically significant. The thematic analysis of the expert clinician interviews showed that the clinicians provide quality services, but do not have the resources to reach everyone on campus in need of these services. Discussion: The findings from this study suggest future research directions looking at other college campuses and including explanatory variables in future similar research. The findings also suggest an increase in staffing and expanded continuity of services to improve services on college campuses.

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.