Digital Violence in Affective-Sexual Relationships among Spanish University Students

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have brought about new forms of contact and interpersonal relationships, as well as a new space in which to deploy digital violence in the form of abuse, harassment, intimidation and behaviours of control and coercion through electronic media. This research analyses whether ICTs are the cause of a new form of digital violence and studies the prevalence of this digital violence exercised through screens among university couples. Applying a quantitative methodology, a two-stage random cluster sampling of 528 (MAge = 24.29; SD = 21.41; 69.5 % female) Spanish university students was carried out. As a research instrument, we used the Digital Violence Questionnaire (DVQ), created for the detection, measurement and analysis of digital violence within affective-sexual relationships, which is composed of seven factors and a total of 55 variables presented in 30 items. The main results by factors were: factor 1, "Cyberstalking of the other", 10.89 %; factor 2, "Coercive Control", 11.72 %; factor 3, "Emotional Abuse", 18.37 %; factor 4, "Denigration", 6.86 %; factor 5, "First person Cyberstalking", 10.58 %; factor 6, "Isolation", 14.51 %; factor 7, "Domination" 20.02 %. Thus, the results show a slight tolerance towards digital violence among Spanish students, with a low prevalence where women have the highest percentages. Despite this, it is concluded that, taking into account the impact that electronic media have on younger populations in their social interactions and interpersonal relationships, the educational and university context should be the object of the creation of different awareness, prevention and specific training programmes against this digital violence.