Sexuality and sex education of adolescents with intellectual disability: mothers' attitudes, experiences, and support needs

Few studies have considered families' views about adolescents' sexual development. The authors compared attitudes and behaviors of mothers of young people with (n = 30) and without intellectual disability (n = 30). Both groups placed similar importance on dealing with their children's developing sexuality and were similarly confident in doing so. Mothers of young people with intellectual disability held more cautious attitudes about contraception, readiness to learn about sex, and decisions about intimate relationships. Mothers expressed concerns about their children with intellectual disability and sexual vulnerability. They had also spoken about fewer sexual topics with their children and began these discussions when their children were older. The findings can inform more sensitive supports and materials to help families deal with the sexual development of their offspring.     

Positive PsychoTherapy in ABI Rehab (PoPsTAR): A pilot randomised controlled trial

Psychological distress is common following acquired brain injury (ABI), but the evidence base for psychotherapeutic interventions is small and equivocal. Positive psychotherapy aims to foster well-being by increasing experiences of pleasure, engagement and meaning. In this pilot trial, we investigated the feasibility and acceptability of brief positive psychotherapy in adults with ABI and emotional distress. Participants were randomised to brief positive psychotherapy plus usual treatment, or usual treatment only. Brief positive psychotherapy was delivered over eight individual out-patient sessions, by one research psychologist. A blinded assessor administered the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Authentic Happiness Inventory (AHI) at 5, 9 and 20 weeks post-baseline. Of 27 participants randomised (median age 57; 63% male; 82% ischaemic stroke survivors; median 5.7 months post-injury), 14 were assigned to positive psychotherapy, of whom 8 completed treatment. The intervention was feasible to deliver with excellent fidelity, and was acceptable to participants. Retention at 20 weeks was 63% overall. A full-scale trial would need to retain n?=?39 per group to end-point, to detect a significant difference in change scores on the DASS-21 Depression scale of 7 points (two-tailed alpha?=?.05, power?=?.80). Trials including an active control arm would require larger sample sizes. We conclude that a full-scale trial to investigate efficacy is warranted.     

Sexual understanding and development of young people with intellectual disabilities: mothers' perspectives of within-family context

The sexual development of young people with intellectual disabilities is a marker of their transition to adulthood and affects their sense of well being and identity. Cognitive impairments and a socially marginalized position increase dependence on their families to assist with sexual matters. In this study, the authors adopted a novel interpretive phenomenological analysis approach, asking 8 mothers to contrast their experience of supporting similarly aged siblings with and without intellectual disabilities. Acknowledgment of their nondisabled offspring's sexuality was demanded by increasing autonomy, whereas continuing dependence of the offspring with intellectual disabilities hindered mothers who were addressing this intensely private and sensitive issue with them. The topic of sexuality brought to the forefront mothers' fears about their offspring's ability to cope with the challenges of adulthood.     

Optimization of silver recovery from waste X-ray radiographic films by oxalic acid extraction with response surface methodology

Waste X-ray radiographic films contain an appreciable amount of silver (Ag) that can be recovered and reprocessed. Most of the existing methods of Ag recovery from waste radiographic films are expensive and harmful to the environment. In this study, the extraction of Ag from waste radiographic films was done using oxalic acid solution heated at 90–100 °C. XRD and SEM results reveal that the recovered residue contains pure metallic Ag spherical microparticles. According to the response surface methodology (RSM) based on three-level, three-factorial Box-Behnken design, the optimized stripping conditions are oxalic acid concentration of 9.97% w/v, extraction temperature of 99.51 °C, and extraction time of 16.62 min. The predicted and actual % Ag recovery are of 94.94 and 90.07%, respectively. Reusability study confirms that the oxalic acid solution can be reused for several runs of Ag extraction. Initial Ag recovery of ~68.9% decreased to ~28.2% after 4 cycles of reusing the extraction solution.