Technology-Facilitated Abuse Among College Students: Prevalence and Consequences, and Examinations by Gender and Sexual Identity

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation is to document the prevalence and consequences of technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) among college students and examine whether gender identity and sexual identity are associated with TFA exposure and related academic and mental health consequences. Data were analyzed from a campus climate survey distributed in Spring 2022. Data from 1,543 college students were collected for TFA experiences, academic consequences, and TFA-related depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to test for unique contributions of sexual identity, gender identity, and number of TFA experiences to the outcomes of academic consequences, depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress. The number of TFA experiences was a significant predictor across all models. The contributions of sexual identity and gender identity differed for each outcome. The results of this study align with prior research which has found sexual identity and gender identity to affect outcomes associated with TFA. In addition, TFA was more prevalent among sexual and gender minority students, and the consequences of TFA were more severe within this population. These results suggest that programming takes a dual approach in addressing TFA through reducing TFA exposure and mitigating the impacts of TFA on mental health and other outcomes.