Sexual health education for young adults diagnosed with severe mental
illness, intellectual disability and developmental disability. A pilot
study on the eITPoSA psycho-educational intervention.
Abstract
Background: Young adults diagnosed with severe mental illness
(SMI), intellectual disability (ID), and developmental disability (DD)
often face challenges in accessing comprehensive sexual health
education. The educational Intervention and Training Program on
Sexuality and Affectivity (eITPoSA) aims to address this gap by
providing tailored psycho-educational interventions. Methods: A
pilot study was conducted with 15 participants diagnosed with SMI, ID,
and DD. The program comprised six sessions focusing on body knowledge,
genital sexuality, privacy awareness, privacy protection, and hygiene
and personal care. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations were carried
out using monitoring and evaluation grids. Data were analyzed using
descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-tests with bootstrapped
confidence intervals, and Cohen’s d to assess effect sizes. Additional
valuable insights were gained from the open-ended questions designed for
Modules 1, 2, and 6, as well as from the qualitative analysis of the
Circles in Module 5. Results: The program demonstrated
significant improvements in all areas evaluated. Mean scores for body
knowledge increased from 31.43% (SD = 25.18) to 86.65% (SD = 23.98),
genital sexuality from 15% (SD = 34.81) to 90% (SD = 24.00), privacy
awareness from 82.94% (SD = 25.10) to 98.75% (SD = 7.16), privacy
protection from 86.11% (SD = 29.65) to 95.95% (SD = 14.45), and
hygiene and personal care from 47.27% (SD = 38.23) to 96.36% (SD =
12.06). All improvements were statistically significant with large
effect sizes for body knowledge, genital sexuality, and hygiene and
personal care. Conclusion: The eITPoSA program significantly
enhances sexual and relational knowledge among young adults with SMI,
ID, and DD. These results support the efficacy of tailored sexual health
education programs. However, further research with larger, more diverse
samples is needed to generalize these findings.