Dating and domestic violence, also referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), are serious public health and safety concerns in the United States. Research shows that IPV affects young adults at rates higher than other age groups. It is also associated with many negative outcomes, including psychological distress and school drop-out. The costs to society and to individuals is enormous. Among all people who experience IPV, sexual minorities show rates higher than heterosexual individuals. Higher rates of IPV among individuals in this minority group can be explained by the concept of sexual stigma, that is negative attitudes and discrimination directed toward this group. This project develops a model of stigma that identifies two distinct forms: institutional stigma and individual stigma. Institutional stigma refers to the discriminatory practices and policies of an organization or institution. Individual stigma refers to experiencing prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior from other people, as well as accepting negative beliefs about this minority group as true. Young adults attending a wide variety of colleges and universities will be surveyed to learn how attending a college that is less supportive toward this minority group (institutional stigma) can lead to feelings of shame and fears of being discriminated against (individual stigma). This project examines the extent to which these stigma experiences increase risk for IPV in this group, and considers multiple pathways for such increased risk, including lower levels of social support, increased drinking, difficulties with managing emotions, and increases in depression. The alarming rates of IPV in this group on college campuses makes it a high public health priority to identify factors that contribute to these increased rates and to ultimately develop effective prevention efforts.
This project develops and tests the multi-level sexual stigma model of intimate partner violence (MLSSM-IPV). A longitudinal survey will be conducted of over 20,000 sexual minority and heterosexual students and more than 7,500 faculty, staff, and administrators across 15 large residential colleges and universities. The institutions will vary in the extent to which they have made efforts to establish a supportive climate for students in the minority group. Several hypotheses derived from the MLSSM-IPV model will be tested. One is that universities with higher levels of institutional sexual stigma (as evidenced by discriminatory practices and policies) will have higher rates of individual-level stigma (prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviors) among heterosexual staff, faculty, administrators and students, and also higher rates of IPV victimization and perpetration among minority group members. A second hypothesis is that individual-level stigma among this minority group (feelings of shame regarding one's identity, anticipating discrimination from others) will be predicted by both institutional stigma and by individual level-stigma among heterosexual staff, faculty, administrators and students. It is expected that the relationship between stigma and IPV experiences in the minority group will be mediated by emotion regulation difficulties, poor social support, hazardous drinking, and psychological distress. A 6-month follow-up survey with students will examine how stigma and mediators predict IPV experiences. This research will establish the extent to which stigma at the institutional and individual levels relates to increased risk of IPV, and identify mechanisms by which this occurs. The project is an important step in developing comprehensive and effective approaches to the prevention of intimate partner violence associated with a key vulnerable population.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
