Childhood victimization, current perception of psychological violence against women and sexist attitudes in dating adolescents in out-of-home care: A preliminary study

Abstract

Children growing up in unfavorable family environments may also suffer victimizations in other contexts than the family. These victimizations, along with sexist beliefs, may underlie the risk of involvement in teen dating violence, as they may affect tolerance and perception of abusive behaviors. The aim was to analyse the current perception of psychological violence against women, sexist attitudes, and victimization experiences in a sample of 40 adolescents (12-18 years; 66,7 % female) who were in out-of-home care. Adolescents showed a moderate to considerable perception of psychological violence against women, with higher levels of benevolent sexist attitudes. There were significant differences in the perception of psychological violence according to the level of victimization. Polyvictims presented a lower perception capacity than victims. It highlights the need to work on the prevention of teen dating violence in high-risk adolescents from the first warning signs, such as the difficulty in determining which behaviors are or are not dating violence.