Impact of sexual sensation seeking on dating violence behaviors

Abstract

Background: Dating violence has shown a high concern and recognition, both scientifically and socially, for the impact it has on physical and mental health. Objectives: Determine whether sexual feelings influence dating violence practices and behaviors. Participants: The sample consisted of 820 university students (mean age 20,48 years, Sd= 2.51). Method: It is a quantitative, descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study. The research protocol was a questionnaire that allowed us to characterize the sample at a sociodemographic, academic, affective and sexual level. We included the Dating Violence Practices and Behaviors Scale (Dixe, Rodrigues, Freire et al., 2010) and the Sexual Sensations Search Scale (Carvalho & Batista, 1998). Results: This is a mostly female sample (69.4%). Regarding dating violence practices and behaviors, we found, in the dimensions under analysis, maximum values of 80.70 for psychological violence, 91.67 for stalking violence and sexual violence and 90.48 for physical violence. The results of the decision tree reveal that the search for sexual sensations is the variable that best predicts the degree of dating violence. Conclusion: Since violence in intimate relationships damages physical, psychological, sexual, reproductive, social, academic and professional development, with effects on people’s health and well-being, both in the short, medium and long term, we propose awareness-raising actions in the school context promoted by experts and debated among peers.