Comparing the effect of two educational interventions on mothers' awareness, attitude, and self-efficacy regarding sexual health care of educable intellectually disabled adolescent girls: a cluster randomized control trial

Body image concern and demographic characteristics as predictors of anxiety in adolescent girls

OBJECTIVES

Adolescence is a critical and sensitive period of growth, marked by significant physical and psychological changes. During this time, adolescents often experience increased anxiety and concerns about their body image. This study aims to examine body image concern and demographic characteristics as predictors of anxiety in adolescent girls.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 381 female students aged 12-13 from Babol city. The participants were selected based on predefined inclusion criteria. Multi-stage sampling method was employed, and the samples were selected from six middle schools. The data collection tools consisted of a demographic information questionnaire, Littleton's body image concern scale, and Zung's anxiety scale.

RESULTS

The mean score for body image concern was 16.59±44.82, while the mean score for anxiety was 10.53±37.31. When investigating the relationship between body image concern and anxiety, a significant and positive correlation between these two variables was observed during regression analysis (p<0.001). Both univariate and multivariate regression analyses indicated that for every one-unit increase in students' body image concern score, their overall anxiety score increased by an average of 0.34 units in both models (B: 0.34, 95 % CI: 0.29-0.39) (p<0.001). Additionally, in univariate regression analyses students who received puberty information from sources other than their mother exhibited 2.68 units higher anxiety levels, which was statistically significant (B: 2.68, 95 % CI: 0.38-4.98) (p<0.001) and, concerning the preferred source of information, students who favored a non-mother source experienced 3.91 units increase in their anxiety score (B: 3.91, 95 % CI: 1.74-6.08) (p<0.001). The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that with the presence of all independent variables in the model, 30 % of the dependent variable changes can be predicted (explained) (R 2 =0.302).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicated a positive association between body image concerns and anxiety among students. Moreover, students who relied on sources other than their mother for obtaining information about puberty displayed higher levels of anxiety. Consequently, it is imperative to implement preventive and supportive programs targeting adolescents as well as empowering mothers to effectively deal with these issues.

Meta-analysis on the effectiveness of parent education for children with disabilities

BACKGROUND

Parents of children with disabilities often have difficulty understanding their child's behavior and are unable to do it appropriately because they do not know what to do. The more we properly understand children with disabilities, the more positive the importance of parent education becomes in various aspects.

AIM

To demonstrate the effectiveness of parent education for children with disabilities in various aspects and present it as evidence that can be used clinically.

METHODS

For a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of parent education for children with disabilities, literature was collected from 2002 to 2022 using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Directory of Open Access Journals, and Europe PMC. Search terms were "disabled children," "disabled children," "parent education," "parent training," and "parent coaching." The final searched literature included a total of 11 articles. To calculate the effect size, the mean, standard deviation, and sample size of the experimental and control groups were analyzed, and a meta-analysis was performed using RevMan version 5.4.1. To analyze statistical heterogeneity, a chi-square test was performed to evaluate the significance of Q statistics to indicate statistical heterogeneity.

RESULTS

The final literature totaled 11 articles, and a total of 4 items were analyzed. There were 5 studies on parental depression, the heterogeneity was 98%, and the effect size for parental depression was 0.35 [confidence interval (CI: 0.30-0.40)], indicating a small but statistically significant effect size. There were 4 studies on parenting attitude, the heterogeneity was 100%, the effect size on parenting attitude was 0.41 (CI: 0.37-0.46), which was a medium effect size, and the P value showed a statistically significant score. Additionally, face-to-face parent education was found to have a larger effect size than non-face-to-face education. Regarding parent education methods, face-to-face parent education had a medium effect size [0.57 (CI: 0.52-0.61]), while non-face-to-face parent education had a small effect size [0.23 (CI: 0.18-0.28]).

CONCLUSION

Parental education has shown high effectiveness in child development, and it has proven to be even more effective when face-to-face parenting education is conducted. Accordingly, more effective and objective data was presented. Based on this study, it is believed that parent education research applying various diagnostic groups should continue to be conducted.

The Right to Sexuality, Reproductive Health, and Found a Family for People with Intellectual Disability: A Systematic Review

Although sexuality, reproductive health, and starting a family are human rights that should be guaranteed for all citizens, they are still taboo issues for people with intellectual disability (ID), and even more so for women with ID. This paper systematically reviews the current qualitative and quantitative evidence on the rights of people with ID in regard to Articles 23 (right to home and family) and 25 (health, specifically sexual and reproductive health) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). A systematic review of the current literature, following PRISMA 2020, was carried out in ERIC, PsychInfo, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, and Web of Science. In all, 151 articles were included for review. The studies were categorized into six themes: attitudes, intimate relationships, sexual and reproductive health, sexuality and sex education, pregnancy, and parenthood. There are still many barriers that prevent people with ID from fully exercising their right to sexuality, reproductive health, and parenthood, most notably communicative and attitudinal barriers. These findings underline the need to continue advancing the rights of people with ID, relying on Schalock and Verdurgo's eight-dimensional quality of life model as the ideal conceptual framework for translating such abstract concepts into practice and policy.