Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

INTRO: Parental contribution to the sexuality education (SE) of their children is of great importance. Their attitudes and beliefs contribute to their child’s sexuality expression and overall well-being, in addition to the effectiveness of formal educational programs on sexuality. In Greece, SE was very recently implemented in the mandatory school curriculum.
GOALS & METHOD: This study attempted to explore maternal perceptions and practices in educating their young children about reproduction, intimate relationships, gender roles and their sexuality as well as to explore their feelings on the implementation of SE in school. IPA qualitative research method was adopted, with semi-structured interviews conducted with three Greek mothers of children of opposite sex, between four to eight years old. The data were transcribed and analyzed according to IPA guidelines while analytic strategies of triangulation and a faculty review panel were employed. RESULTS: From the analysis of the results, three main themes were extracted a) the Timing of the initiation of sexuality education including facilitating and inhibitory factors, b) the Processes of sexuality education for young children capturing approach, topic and people involved and finally c) the core maternal beliefs including their gender typical attitudes as well as their sense of self-efficacy.
CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that SE is a fairly novel process for mothers in Greece, who continue to struggle with the implementation of it in an effective, time appropriate and accurate manner. They also appeared to be skeptical about the timing and type of professionals involved in formal SE programs in Greek schools. The findings can contribute to the development of SE training programs, culturally tailored to the specific needs of parents in Greece and to potentially enhance the sexual health of children, protect and empower them.