College students’ experiences of dating app facilitated sexual violence and associations with mental health symptoms and well-being

Dating app facilitated sexual violence (DAFSV) includes behaviors such as unwanted sexual comments/harassment, unsolicited sexual photos, and gender/sexuality-based harassment – and could extend to sexual violence when meeting partners face-to-face. The effects of sexual violence on mental health are well-established, however, research on DAFSV is limited. The goal of the current study is to understand college students’ experiences of DAFSV and investigate cross-sectional associations with indicators of mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) and well-being (i.e., self-esteem, loneliness, perceived control). Participants were college students in the United States who used dating app (N = 277) and identified primarily as women (64.6%) and heterosexual/straight (74.0%). Most participants (88.4%) self-reported at least one instance of DAFSV. Women (vs. men) and sexual minority (vs. heterosexual/straight) individuals experienced more frequent DAFSV. Regression analyses indicated that DAFSV frequency was associated with higher depression and anxiety symptoms, higher loneliness, lower self-esteem, and lower perceived control. This study highlights the importance of DAFSV for a broad range of well-being indicators. Given that dating apps are one of the most common means of meeting partners, research is needed to better understand these initial interactions, prevent DAFSV from occurring, and mitigate the impact of DAFSV on health outcomes.