An overview on sexual behaviours among adolescent with special needs : a scoping review

Sexuality issues are rarely discussed in Malaysia and are considered taboo and culturally inappropriate. Sexuality is divided into three components; sexual behaviour, biological influences, and making sense of sexuality. Sexual behaviour is classed into non-coital sexual behaviour (e.g., fantasy, masturbation) and sexual intercourse (e.g., partners, sexual coercion). Note that sexual behaviour is individuals’ experiences of sexual feeling or expression, while any sexual activity that raises the possibility of getting pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted diseases (STD) is referred to as risky sexual behaviour (RSB). This scoping review is conducted to determine sexual behaviours among adolescents with special needs, to investigate factors of their sexual behaviours, and to determine the need for sexuality education and the potential roles of occupational therapists (OTs) in managing their behaviours. The author independently searched through databases, for instance, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science, as well as PubMed, and 17 studies, met the criteria and were reviewed. Masturbation, inappropriate gestures and exhibitionism were common sexual behaviours among adolescents with special needs. Such behaviours were caused by a lack of sexual understanding, sexual knowledge and awareness, and pornography addiction. This review contributes to developing interventions that solve challenging sexual behaviour, rule OT roles in sexuality and guide parents with obligatory educational support in delivering sexual knowledge to their children.