Effect of the Lights4Violence intervention on the sexism of adolescents in European countries

• Autor(a) principal: Sanz-Barbero, Belén
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Ayala, Alba, Ieracitano, Francesca, Rodríguez-Blázquez, Carmen, Bowes, Nicola, De Claire, Karen, Mocanu, Veronica, Anton-Paduraru, Dana-Teodora, Sánchez-SanSegundo, Miriam, Albaladejo-Blázquez, Natalia, das Neves, Ana Sofia Antunes, da Silva Queirós, Ana Sofia, Jankowiak, Barbara, Waszyńska, Katarzyna, Vives-Cases, Carmen
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/28108
• topic: Ambivalent sexism, Intervention, Adolescents

Background: Sexism results in a number of attitudes and behaviors that contribute to gender inequalities in social structure and interpersonal relationships. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efectiveness of Lights4Violence, an intervention program based on promoting health assets to reduce sexist attitudes in young European people. Methods: We carried out a quasi-experimental study in a non-probabilistic population of 1146 students, aged 12–17 years. The dependent variables were the diference in the wave 1 and wave 2 values in the subscales of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: benevolent sexism (BS) and hostile sexism (HS). The efect of the intervention was evaluated through linear regression analyses stratifed by sex. The models were adjusted by baseline subscales scores, socio-demographic and psychological variables. Results: In girls, we observed a decrease in BS in the intervention group compared to the control group (β=−0.101; p=0.006). In the wave2,, BS decreased more in the intervention group compared to the control group in girls with mothers with a low level of education (β=−0.338; p=0.001), with a high level of social support (β=−0.251; p<0.001), with greater capacity for confict resolution (β=−0.201; p<0.001) and lower levels of aggressiveness (β=−0.232, p<0.001). In boys, the mean levels of HS and BH decreased in wave 2 in both the control and intervention groups. The changes observed after the wave 2 were the same in the control group and in the intervention group. No signifcant diferences were identifed between both groups. Conclusions: The implementation of the Lights4Violence was associated with a signifcant reduction in BS in girls, which highlights the potential of interventions aimed at supporting the personal competencies and social support. It is necessary to reinforce the inclusion of educational contents that promote refection among boys about the role of gender and the meaning of the attributes of masculinity. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03411564. Unique Protocol ID: 776905. Date registered: 26-01-2018