Egocentric network composition and structure relative to violence victimization among a sample of college students

• Published in: Journal of American college health Vol. 70; no. 7; pp. 2017 - 2025
• Main Authors: Patterson, M. S., Prochnow, T., Nelon, J. L., Spadine, M. N., Brown, S. E., Lanning, B. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 03-10-2022; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: College campuses; College Students; Correlation; Dating (Social); dating violence; Drinking; Emotional abuse; Gender Differences; Health Behavior; higher education; Individual Characteristics; Individual differences; Interpersonal Relationship; National Surveys; Network Analysis; Prevention; Risk; Risk factors; Sexual violence; Sexuality; social network analysis; Social Networks; Student Attitudes; Student Characteristics; Victimization; Victims; Violence; higher education; College campuses; dating violence; social network analysis
• ISSN: 0744-8481; 1940-3208
• DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1841777

Objective
To use egocentric network analysis to understand how composition and structure of egonetworks relate to violence victimization among college students. Participants: 697 students from a large southeastern university completed online surveys. Methods: Hierarchical logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between egocentric network variables and a history of violence victimization. Results: Being connected to others with a history of violence victimization increased a student's odds of indicating their own history of physical, emotional, and sexual violence victimization. Having less dense egonetworks was related to sexual violence victimization, while being connected to less people of the same gender was related to emotional violence victimization. Conclusion: The way college students' networks are composed and structured could help in understanding violence victimization in this population, and should be considered in prevention and reactionary efforts on campuses. These findings add to the current literature largely focused on individual-level risk factors related to violence.