Factors Promoting Resilience Among Mexican American College Students Who Experienced Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

The literature on Latinx intimate partner violence (IPV) among college students has tended to focus on the risk factors for experiencing victimization, with much less emphasis on the potential factors fostering resilience. This study examines the factors that promote resilience in a sample of 90 Mexican American undergraduate college students (mean age was 23.33; SD = 5.69) attending a Hispanic Serving Institution who experienced IPV victimization in the last year. The research question was: What factors are associated with resilience in a sample of Latinx college students who experienced IPV? An analysis of regression with resilience as the outcome measure showed the following were positive predictors of resilience in this sample of Latinx college students who experienced IPV: frequency of religious service attendance, intrinsic religiosity, social support, familismo, and ethnic identity. The study also found two negative predictors of resilience: caballerismo and violence severity. Results are discussed in the context of service provision and IPV prevention for Latinx college students.