A systematic review of relationships and sex education outcomes for students with intellectual disability reported in the international literature.
No validated tool exists to measure relationships and sex education outcomes for students with intellectual disability.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team hunted for every paper that tested relationships and sex education (RSE) for students with intellectual disability.
They found 42 studies written anywhere in the world.
From those papers they pulled out 135 different outcomes that schools had measured.
What they found
Almost every study only checked if students could repeat facts.
Hardly any checked real-life skills or attitudes.
Not a single tool had proof that it truly works for this group.
How this fits with other research
Demello et al. (1992) and Lancioni et al. (2009) show students can learn and keep sex-ed facts when teaching is steady.
Yet Pettingell et al. (2022) reveal that the tests used in those older studies were never checked for validity.
Early et al. (2012) found the same hole in quality-of-life tools: lots of claims, no validated ruler.
Together the picture is clear: we can teach the content, but we still lack a trustworthy yardstick to prove it worked.
Why it matters
If you run RSE groups, stop trusting off-the-shelf quizzes. Track real skills like saying no, buying condoms, or reporting abuse. Start small: pick one skill, define it in plain steps, and measure it with direct observation until better tools arrive.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Little is known about how to evaluate relationships and sex education (RSE) delivered to students with intellectual disability and what stakeholders perceive are important outcomes. The present study aimed to systematically review existing studies on outcomes of RSE, as the first step in the development of a core outcome set (COS) for students with intellectual disability. METHOD: A systematic literature process included two stages: (1) searching for studies reporting on RSE outcomes for students with intellectual disability and (2) studies reporting on measurement properties (e.g. validity, reliability and responsiveness) of standardised instruments identified in stage 1. RESULTS: A total of 135 RSE outcomes were extracted from 42 studies: 43 outcomes for students in secondary education and 92 outcomes for students in further education. No RSE outcomes were reported for primary education. Outcomes referred to the human body, hygiene, relationships, sexuality, sex and its consequences, inappropriate and appropriate social and sexual behaviour, keeping safe, emotional vocabulary and positive self-esteem. Outcomes were predominantly knowledge-based, rather than relating to skills and attitudes development. Students with intellectual disability, parents and teachers perceive different RSE outcomes meaningful. Five instruments were used to measure the outcomes, but none have established psychometric properties with this population. CONCLUSIONS: The comprehensive list of RSE outcomes for students with intellectual disability will be used to inform the next steps of a Core Outcome Set needed for RSE evaluations in research and education settings. There is an urgent need to develop standardised instruments validated for students with intellectual disability.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2022 · doi:10.1111/jir.12952