Attitudes towards partner relationships in people with disabilities: differential analysis among family members, professionals and the general population

Attitudes toward the sexuality of people with disabilities seem to have evolved positively. However, there are still misconceptions that help to maintain a negative attitude toward the sexuality of these individuals, hindering their psychosexual development. This work analyzes the attitudes towards partner relationships of people with disabilities by their relatives, professionals, and the general population. 252 people participated in the study: 86 family members, 80 professionals and 86 people from the general population. The results show that in all cases family members have shown less tolerance towards partner relationships, while professionals werethe most tolerant. Specifically,statisticallysignificant differences are observed among the three groups in the attitude towards intimate relationships of people with intellectual disabilities (M=33; SD=3.12 in family members, M=71.09; SD=5.13 in professionals and M=63.14; SD=20.87 in the general population), sensory disabilities (M=32.48; SD=3.49 in family members, M=73.3; SD=4.06 in professionals and M=70.79; SD=17.79 in the general population) or physical disabilities (M=34.32; SD=3.02 in family members, M=80.82; SD=4.82 in professionalsand M=66.60; SD=21.15 in general population). Likewise, family members show more unfavorable attitudes when relationships are established both between different sex partners (F=275.08; p= .000) and same sex partners (F=319.92; p= .000), as well as between partners of the same age (F=424.79; p=.000) or of different ages (F=273.1; p=.000). These data emphasize the importance of including attitudinal modules in affective-sexual education programs aimed at family. In this regard, we could not only improve their attitudes but also those attitudes that their children may learn from them, and thus favor an adequate expression and development of sexuality among people with disabilities