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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

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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 café 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.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to extend my gratitude to Eskisehir Tepebasi Municipality, Eskisehir Gokkusagi Café personnel, and the families who participated in this study.

Funding

This study was funded by Eskisehir Tepebasi Municipality. Eskisehir Tepebasi Municipality. supplied place and projection for presentation of SEPID, and printed family handbook free.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Gizem Yıldız & Atilla Cavkaytar

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  1. Gizem Yıldız
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  2. Atilla Cavkaytar
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Correspondence to Gizem Yıldız.

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Author Gizem Yıldız declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Atilla Cavkaytar declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study has been approved by the Anadolu University Ethics Committee.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. In all procedures performed in this study, written permissions were received from participants. And informed consent form was given to all participants.

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Yıldız, G., Cavkaytar, A. 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. Sex Disabil 35, 3–19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-016-9465-5

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