Sexual understanding and development of young people with intellectual disabilities: mothers' perspectives.

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.

性身份的建构与认知发展，是个体成长历程中的核心议题。对性相关内容的认知偏差，可能引发个体的心理痛苦与脆弱性。对于智力障碍儿童而言，家庭在支持其性发展方面或许发挥着更为关键的作用，但目前针对父母视角的相关研究仍较为匮乏。

本研究旨在对比两组母亲在应对16至21岁子代性发展问题时的态度与经历，其中一组子代患有智力障碍，另一组则无智力障碍。研究第一阶段将开展质性研究，研究对象为同时拥有一名智力障碍子女与一名同龄同性非障碍子女的母亲，通过半结构化访谈探究其在应对两名子代成长需求时的异同之处。研究第二阶段将采用问卷调查法，对比30名智力障碍青少年母亲与30名非障碍青少年母亲的观点看法。本研究期望通过深入了解母亲群体的视角，为相关家庭提供更具针对性的支持，并助力学校、高等院校与医疗健康从业者更高效地与家庭开展合作。