Group CBT for men with intellectual disabilities and/or autism who have harmful sexual behaviour

Murphy, Glynis H., Sinclair, Neil, Melvin, Clare ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5621-3417 and Langdon, Peter E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7745-1825 (2023) Group CBT for men with intellectual disabilities and/or autism who have harmful sexual behaviour. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62 (3). pp. 592-604. ISSN 0144-6657

Preview

PDF (Murphy_etal_2023_BJCP) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (278kB) | Preview

Abstract

Objectives: Men with intellectual disabilities and/or autism sometimes engage in harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), but it may be harder for them to access treatment, than it is for non-disabled men. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of attending an adapted CBT group, known as SOTSEC-ID, on men with intellectual disabilities and/or autism who had HSB. Method: Ninety-eight men from intellectual disability services, who had ID and/or autism and a history of HSB were recruited, and they received group CBT for a year (46 of these men have been previously reported). Harmful sexual behaviour, sexual knowledge, distorted cognitions and victim empathy were measured before and after treatment, and at 6 month follow-up. Results: There were low levels of further harmful sexual behaviour: 12% of men engaged in further HSB during the 1- year period of the group, and 8% engaged in further HSB in the 6-month follow-up period. There were also significant improvements in sexual knowledge, distorted cognitions and victim empathy following treatment, maintained at 6-month follow-up. Men with autism showed significantly more non-contact HSB, were less likely to have been interviewed by police and had higher rates of further HSB, compared to men without autism. Conclusions: It is concluded that SOTSEC-ID is a promising treatment for men with ID/autism and HSB. Nevertheless, the study had a number of limitations and lacked a control group, so there is now an urgent need for a proper controlled study.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	31 May 2023 13:30
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2023 09:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92213
DOI:	10.1111/bjc.12427

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item