Effectiveness of a Sexual Education Program for Mothers of Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities on Mothers' Attitudes Toward Sexual Education and the Perception of Social Support

Abstract

Healthy sexual development is possible only through effective sexual education, which could be provided by families. Lack of sexuality training could lead to inappropriate behavior in children and they could face problems such as exclusion from the society and sexual abuse. The purpose of the present study was to scrutinize the effect of a Sexuality Education Program for Mothers of Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (SEPID) on the attitudes of mothers toward the sexuality education of their children and their perceptions of social support. The present research employed an empirical pretest-posttest model with control group. Study participants included 44 mothers who were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups. The SEPID program was conducted at the seminar hall located in the second floor of a caf, where individuals with intellectual disabilities work and it was conducted in four 1-h sessions. Study data were tested with ANOVA and ANCOVA methods. Findings demonstrated that SEPID changed the attitudes of mothers toward the sexuality education of their children in a positive direction and improved their perceptions of social support. Social validity findings showed that the mothers were satisfied with the program.