A Longitudinal Examination of Developmental Covariates of Sexual Behavior Problems among Youth Referred to Child Protection Services

Little is known about the development of childhood sexual behavior problems (SBP) in terms of continuity and discontinuity into adolescence. Prior studies have espoused a nondevelopmental approach focusing on the clinical profiles of these youths at the time of their referral. To address this gap, the current study proposes an examination of the developmental covariates involved in the continuity of SBP among a sample of 340 children and adolescents referred to Child Protection Services (CPS) in Quebec, Canada. Children’s CPS contacts from birth up to age 17 were inspected, allowing to recreate the life history of social and familial adversities during that period. Logistic regression models were performed and helped to identify developmental covariates of childhood-onset SBP and its persistence into adolescence. Findings suggest that children with childhood-onset SBP that persisted into adolescence have experienced various life adversities. The study findings provide some preliminary evidence of the developmental pathways of SBP.

Sexual Behavior Problems in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Several studies conducted on adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) have reported various problems of sexual behavior that occurs in the group, including HIV-related risky sexual behavior and other health-related concerns. AIM: This review aims to synthesize studies on the problems regarding sexual behavior in adolescents with ID to obtain data on the types of risky sexual behavior problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Synthesis was conducted on nine studies of children aged 10–20 years old with intellectual disabilities as subjects who have no other psychiatric comorbidities and met the appraisal criteria based on the checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). RESULTS: Several behaviors were found in the group of adolescents with ID. Masturbation is the type of solitary behavior that appears the most, besides other behaviors like touching genitals and getting naked in public places. Sexual intercourse is the most widely reported in the type of “involving other persons.” Sexual intercourse with more than 1 person without using contraception to protect against sexual transmitted disease (STD) is at risk for HIV infection or other infectious diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review have indicated that adolescents with ID have sexual needs and experience sexual behavior problems similar to ordinary adolescents in general. They actually have a higher risk for having risky sexual behavior because they lack understanding of sexuality. These findings emphasize the need for sex education so that young people with disabilities can have healthy sexual behavior and a safe life.

Sexual Behavior Problems Among Sexually Abused Children: Associations With Co-Occurring Symptoms

Sexual behavior problems (SBPs) and interpersonal SBPs (ISBPs) among sexually abused children often occur alongside a variety of other clinical difficulties, such as externalizing problems, attentional difficulties, social concerns, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Yet, as few studies have examined these links in a multivariate manner, it is unclear which symptoms are most strongly related to SBPs and ISBPs. Research regarding children’s reports of their difficulties and SBPs and ISBPs is also very limited. The current study investigated the relations between both caregiver- and child-reported trauma-related symptoms and SBPs and ISBPs among 248 treatment-seeking sexually abused children (ages 6–12; M = 8.06, SD = 2.52; 64.5% female; 55.6% white). Children’s caregiver-reported trauma-related sexual concerns and anger were associated with SBPs. For ISBPs, only caregiver-reported sexual concerns were related to ISBPs. Surprisingly, none of the child-reported symptoms were associated with either SBPs or ISBPs. Trauma-related sexual concerns and anger may be tied to SBPs, whereas other clinical difficulties may be less strongly implicated. Trauma-related sexual concerns may be most important in understanding interpersonally focused SBPs. Children’s self-reported difficulties may be unrelated to caregiver-reported SBPs, or these results may be a function of a low degree of caregiver and child symptom concordance.

Sexual Education for Parents and Teachers of Teenagers with Special Needs

Yayasan Wahana Inclusive Indonesia (YWII) is an institution engaged in providing services for children with special needs, people with disability, and inclusive society. YWII provides services that include counseling, development of individual learning programs (PPIs), support services for children with special needs, and training for educators, schools, parents, and communities. Educational and training activities are conducted by helping children with special needs to learn a few things they need most in their daily lives. Based on the children’s needs, the Master’s Program of Child and Adolescent Psychology Professionals, Faculty of Psychology, Atma Jaya Catholic University, designed training-based interventions to improve the knowledge of students, teachers, and parents about sexual behaviors. Prior to the intervention, the researcher conducted an assessment to determine the causes of "inapproriate" sexual behavior problems that occurred in the YWII environment. The data was collected through instruments such as interview, observation, and FGD. The collected data was then analyzed using the concepts of problem tree and destination tree. Based on the assessment results, it can be concluded that one of the challenges faced by YWII is related to the provision of sexual education to students or children. Adolescents with special needs have not yet had an awareness of their development from children to adolescents that is followed by sexual change or development and how they should respond to the changes. As a result, they are often considered to exhibit behaviors considered rude and vulnerable to sexual harassment. Training-based interventions were provided to parents and teachers at YWII to give them guidance and assistance to handle children with special needs on sexual education