[Sexist attitudes and recognition of abuse in young couples]

To explore the association between gender-role attitudes and the recognition of abuse among adolescents and young adults during dating relationships.

Cross-correlation study.

57 schools of secondary education, vocational education and university in five provinces of Spain (Huelva, Seville, A Coruña, Pontevedra and Asturias).

4,337 students aged between 15 and 26 years (40.6% males and 59.4% female) who had a dating relationship that lasted more than a month.

The Gender Role Attitudes Scale was used, which consists of 20 indicators of egalitarian or sexism attitudes at the family, social and occupational level. The students also reported whether they suffered from recognized abuse (RA), unperceived abuse (UPA), or not abused (NA).

In the whole sample, 68.6% declared themselves NA, 26.4% were under a situation of UPA, and 5.0% were RA. The RA group was more frequent among the females (6.3%), ≥18 years (6.4%) and university students (6.9%). UPA was more common in males (30.2%). The most sexist attitudes were found in the occupational dimension and especially in men and adolescents (15-17 years). Less sexist attitudes were associated with a lower probability of experiencing UPA (odds ratio=.71; P-trend<.001).

Sexism seems to hinder the recognition of abuse. Achieving gender equity in adolescence and youth is imperative. Public health efforts should focus on men, as they constitute the group with more sexist attitudes and with higher prevalence of UPA.