Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families

Background Autistic people have communication, sensorial, and social difficulties, which on many occasions, make their adaptation on the sexual and affective levels difficult. For this reason, it is important to know the opinion of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families,...

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Autores: Torralbas Ortega, Jordi, Roca, Judith, Coelho-Martinho, Ruben, Orozko, Zaloa, Sanromà, Montserrat, Valls-Ibáñez, Victoria
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:20.500.14342/5546
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/5546
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05380-w
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Autisme
Trastorns de l'espectre autista
Sexualitat
Afectivitat
Família
Adolescència
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spelling Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their familiesTorralbas Ortega, JordiRoca, JudithCoelho-Martinho, RubenOrozko, ZaloaSanromà, MontserratValls-Ibáñez, VictoriaAutismeTrastorns de l'espectre autistaSexualitatAfectivitatFamíliaAdolescènciaBackground Autistic people have communication, sensorial, and social difficulties, which on many occasions, make their adaptation on the sexual and affective levels difficult. For this reason, it is important to know the opinion of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families, to offer this perspective to professionals to facilitate adapted health education programs in mental health units. Methods This qualitative descriptive design presents the experiences of autistic individuals and their families in relation to the affective-sexual experiences from individual, family, and social perspectives. Two focus group sessions were held with eight family members and seven individual semi-structured interviews with autistic young adults. The transcripts were qualitatively analysed using content analysis. Results Four themes (Family and social dynamic; Social behaviour of the autistic individual; Affective-sexual relationships; Addressing affective and sex education) and 13 related categories emerged from these results. Communication and social interaction problems act as barriers for young adults when developing affective-sexual relationships, leading to the emergence of negative feelings and experiences that reinforce avoidance behaviours, further intensifying their difficulties in interacting with others. Families, especially mothers, exhibit a poor perception of their ability to provide affective-sexual guidance, leading to anxiety and frustration. There are also reports of poor sex education and lack of support systems. Conclusions and implications for practice The experiences of young people and their families are sometimes conflicting when it comes to affectivity and sexuality, but the parental role emerges as relevant in the sex education process. Families play a pivotal role in sex education, which is why professionals should provide them with support and information through health education programmes, foster empathetic communication and promote sexual and emotional development that is adapted to the characteristics and interests of autistic people.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionBMCUniversitat Ramon Llull. Facultat de Ciències de la Salut Blanquerna2023info:eu-repo/semantics/article13 p.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/5546https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05380-wreponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésBMC Psychiatry, 2023, 23: 858© L'autor/aAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:20.500.14342/55462026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
title Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
spellingShingle Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
Torralbas Ortega, Jordi
Autisme
Trastorns de l'espectre autista
Sexualitat
Afectivitat
Família
Adolescència
title_short Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
title_full Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
title_fullStr Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
title_full_unstemmed Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
title_sort Affectivity, sexuality, and autism spectrum disorder: qualitative analysis of the experiences of autistic young adults and their families
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Torralbas Ortega, Jordi
Roca, Judith
Coelho-Martinho, Ruben
Orozko, Zaloa
Sanromà, Montserrat
Valls-Ibáñez, Victoria
author Torralbas Ortega, Jordi
author_facet Torralbas Ortega, Jordi
Roca, Judith
Coelho-Martinho, Ruben
Orozko, Zaloa
Sanromà, Montserrat
Valls-Ibáñez, Victoria
author_role author
author2 Roca, Judith
Coelho-Martinho, Ruben
Orozko, Zaloa
Sanromà, Montserrat
Valls-Ibáñez, Victoria
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universitat Ramon Llull. Facultat de Ciències de la Salut Blanquerna
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Autisme
Trastorns de l'espectre autista
Sexualitat
Afectivitat
Família
Adolescència
topic Autisme
Trastorns de l'espectre autista
Sexualitat
Afectivitat
Família
Adolescència
description Background Autistic people have communication, sensorial, and social difficulties, which on many occasions, make their adaptation on the sexual and affective levels difficult. For this reason, it is important to know the opinion of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families, to offer this perspective to professionals to facilitate adapted health education programs in mental health units. Methods This qualitative descriptive design presents the experiences of autistic individuals and their families in relation to the affective-sexual experiences from individual, family, and social perspectives. Two focus group sessions were held with eight family members and seven individual semi-structured interviews with autistic young adults. The transcripts were qualitatively analysed using content analysis. Results Four themes (Family and social dynamic; Social behaviour of the autistic individual; Affective-sexual relationships; Addressing affective and sex education) and 13 related categories emerged from these results. Communication and social interaction problems act as barriers for young adults when developing affective-sexual relationships, leading to the emergence of negative feelings and experiences that reinforce avoidance behaviours, further intensifying their difficulties in interacting with others. Families, especially mothers, exhibit a poor perception of their ability to provide affective-sexual guidance, leading to anxiety and frustration. There are also reports of poor sex education and lack of support systems. Conclusions and implications for practice The experiences of young people and their families are sometimes conflicting when it comes to affectivity and sexuality, but the parental role emerges as relevant in the sex education process. Families play a pivotal role in sex education, which is why professionals should provide them with support and information through health education programmes, foster empathetic communication and promote sexual and emotional development that is adapted to the characteristics and interests of autistic people.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/5546
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05380-w
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/5546
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05380-w
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv BMC Psychiatry, 2023, 23: 858
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv © L'autor/a
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv © L'autor/a
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 13 p.
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv BMC
publisher.none.fl_str_mv BMC
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.811543

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