Open AccessArticle Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model by Dennis López-Odar Dennis López-Odar SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar 1,*, Arístides Vara-Horna Arístides Vara-Horna SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar 2, Zaida Asencios-Gonzalez Zaida Asencios-Gonzalez SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar 2 and Eloína Callejas Eloína Callejas SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar 3 1 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima 15001, Peru 2 Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas y Recursos Humanos, Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Lima 15011, Peru 3 Carrera de Administración de Empresas, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz 9999, Bolivia * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16060947 (registering DOI) Submission received: 21 February 2026 / Revised: 22 May 2026 / Accepted: 5 June 2026 / Published: 9 June 2026 Abstract Although the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) for female victims have been widely documented, the psychological and academic correlates of perpetration remain underexplored. This study examines whether emotional distress statistically mediates the association between IPV perpetration and academic presenteeism among male university students. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 343 students from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia. Using validated instruments and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, we assessed direct and indirect associations. Findings indicate that 50.1% of students reported perpetrating at least one form of IPV since entering university, with stalking and psychological violence being most common. Perpetrators reported higher levels of emotional distress compared to non-perpetrators and exhibited higher academic presenteeism (reduced academic functioning despite physical attendance). The structural model indicated a significant indirect statistical effect of IPV perpetration on academic presenteeism through emotional distress (β = 0.137, p Emotional Distress 0.228 5.363 [0.164; 0.329] 0.000 Supported 0.052 0.055 H 2: Emotional distress => Academic Presenteeism 0.600 14.691 [0.521; 0.681] 0.000 Supported 0.360 0.567 H 3: IPVAW Perpetration => Emotional Distress => Academic Presenteeism 0.137 5.009 [0.097; 0.203] 0.000 Supported Note. t-values, p-values, and 95% confidence intervals were obtained by Bootstrapping simulation (resampling 5000 subsamples). Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style López-Odar, D.; Vara-Horna, A.; Asencios-Gonzalez, Z.; Callejas, E. Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model. Behav. Sci. 2026, 16, 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16060947 AMA Style López-Odar D, Vara-Horna A, Asencios-Gonzalez Z, Callejas E. Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model. Behavioral Sciences. 2026; 16(6):947. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16060947 Chicago/Turabian Style López-Odar, Dennis, Arístides Vara-Horna, Zaida Asencios-Gonzalez, and Eloína Callejas. 2026. "Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model" Behavioral Sciences 16, no. 6: 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16060947 APA Style López-Odar, D., Vara-Horna, A., Asencios-Gonzalez, Z., & Callejas, E. (2026). Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model. Behavioral Sciences, 16(6), 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16060947 Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details . Article Metrics Article metric data becomes available approximately 24 hours after publication online.
Emotional Distress and Academic Presenteeism in Male University Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Mediated Structural Model
