Attitudes towards sexuality of parents of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Introduction: people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have problems in romantic relationships and in affective-sexual functioning. Parents play an essential role in the education of their children and must prepare them for puberty and sexuality. People with more erotophilic attitudes are more open to sexual behaviour, unlike erotophobic or conservative people. Objective: the aim of this research was to determine the attitude towards sexuality of parents of adolescents diagnosed with ASD. Materials and methods: a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out. Through incidental sampling, parents of adolescents with a diagnosis of ASD attended in the child and adolescent mental health outpatient clinics were recruited. Demographic variables (age, sex and schooling) and clinical variables (level of support required, intellectual capacity, language, Tanner stage and pharmacological treatment) of the adolescents were collected, and the Attitudes Toward Sexuality Scale (ATSS), extended to the parents, was administered. Results: a total of 86 ATSS scales were answered by the parents and the recorded responses had a mean score of 111.30 (standard deviation: 12.26). The sexual attitudes of the parents of adolescents with ASD were as follows: 32.6% of respondents showed conservative-leaning attitudes; 48.8%, moderate; and 18.6%, liberal-leaning. Conclusions: our results show that parents have mostly moderate and conservative attitudes towards sexuality. They present clearly liberal responses regarding sex education, and more conservative ones towards pornography.