Intimate partner violence, trauma, and mental health need among female community college students

AbstractThe impact of interpersonal violence on college students has received considerable recent attention, yet no studies have been conducted among community college students. These students comprise over 40% of all American college students, and may have unique risk factors and needs. These students are more likely than their peers at 4 year institutions to be women, people of color, working, parenting, and first generation college students. The current study uses a simple random sample of students from four campuses (n = 435) to assess the extent of intimate partner violence, trauma exposure, sexual violence victimization, and associated mental health consequences among female students attending community college. Over 27% of participants met the threshold for experiencing IPV in the past 12 months, while 25% reported having experienced sexual assault and 34% reported experiencing other uncomfortable sexual experiences in their lifetime. Nearly 20% of participants were currently reporting PTSD symptoms.