2022, Volume 15, Issue 1, pp 26 – 33

Exploring experiences of psychological distress among Iranian parents in dealing with the sexual behaviors of their children with autism spectrum disorder: a qualitative study

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* Corresponding Author: Raziyeh Maasoumi, Department of Reproductive Health, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Phone: +982161054231; P.O. Box: +981419733171; E-mail: r.masoomie@gmail.com

Abstract

Sexual behavior is influenced by social and communication deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is a serious challenge for parents who lack effective strategies for providing sexual education to their children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to explore Iranian parents’ experiences of psychological distress in dealing with the sexual behaviors of their children with ASD. This qualitative study was designed following the conventional content analysis approach. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 parents of children with ASD aged 8–34 years. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were collected through purposeful sampling and continued until data saturation. The worries theme was extracted from data interpretation using qualitative content analysis, and this theme entailed four subthemes: 1) sexual vulnerability, 2) unintended social consequences, 3) psychological suffering, and 4) confusion about the future of a child’s sex life. This study emphasized the importance of paying attention to parents’ concerns about the sexual behaviors of children with ASD. Parents’ psychological distress is a major obstacle to proper coping with sexual behaviors, and using coping strategies may help reduce psychological distress in parents of children with ASD. Therefore, it is necessary to design, implement, and evaluate culture-appropriate educational programs to address parents’ concerns regarding the sexual health of a child with autism.

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About this article

PMC ID: 8852642
PubMed ID: 35186133
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0290

Article Publishing Date (print): 1 2022
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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