Pattern of dating violence among young adults at the centre for distance learning, obafemi awolowo university, moro, osun state, nigeria

Background: Dating violence and sexual assaults is becoming a challenge among young adults. This study determines factors responsible for dating violence among young adults schooling at the Centre for Distance Learning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Moro, Osun State, Nigeria. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study of young adults that completed a self-administered questionnaire on dating violence. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: A total of 420 young adults were approached, 401 with completed questionnaire were analysed. There were 208 (51.9%) females and 193 (48.1%) males. Their age ranged from 15-26 years; mean age 17.7±1.50 years. The types of dating violence among the respondents included physical abuse (47.9%), psychological abuse (57.1%), sexual abuse (49.9%) and verbal abuse (51.6%). Identified causes of dating violence included alcohol use (89.3%), pre-marital sex (71.3%), history of abuse in childhood (71.3%) and experience of family violence (66.1%). Coping strategies of dating violence victims included begging the victim (50.6%) or perpetrator (37%), seeking help from friends (50.6%) and counsellor (58.1%). Only 35.9% will walk away from a violent relationship. Significant higher proportion of females engaged in verbal abuse when compared with males (p<0.05). Conclusion: Dating violence is common among this young population. It is necessary to put in place strategies to identify, report, intervene and prevent dating violence among youths.