Research is essential to practice nursing and must be duly enhanced during university training. Therefore, writing a bachelor thesis may help to develop research skills and thus transfer this skill set to practical application. 1) To ascertain whether writing a bachelor thesis has a bearing on attitudes towards nursing research and development; 2) to establish a comparison between groups (students and nurses), and 3) to analyse other factors (work experience, advanced training, research experience) that may influence the relationship between nurses and nursing research and development. A cross-sectional comparative study. The participants totalled 204: 38 nursing students and 166 nurses. Data were gathered using the instrument Nurses' Attitudes towards Research and Development within Nursing devised by Björkström and Hamrin (2001) version II validated in Spanish. This instrument consists of 33 statements grouped into 7 factors, whose responses offer 5 alternatives on a Likert scale. Most participants were female (86.3 %), with a mean age of 36 (SD = 11.65). The participants who have written a bachelor thesis obtained a higher score (Mdn = 4.14; range = 2.06) than those who have not (Mdn = 3.98; range = 2.13), with a significant difference (U = 3959.5; p = 0.012) and a moderate effect size (Hedges's g = 0.40). The students are those who obtained the highest scores. Amongst the nurses, educational training is the element that is most positively correlated with attitudes towards nursing research and development (r = 0.340). The results suggest that writing a bachelor thesis engenders greater interest and a favourable attitude towards nursing research and development and displays that the most interested group is the students, followed by nurses holding a degree in nursing, and lastly those with a Diploma of Higher Education in nursing. Nurses' educational training is the most influential aspect, standing above researcher or professional experience.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present several different characteristics that predispose them to greater difficulties with intimate emotional and sexual relationships. This qualitative study uncovers the perspective of education and healthcare professionals on the affective and sexual needs of young people with ASD by analysing their narratives in semi-structured focus group sessions. Professionals highlight the inadequate training they receive in this aspect of health. They consider it should be commonplace for professionals working with autistic people as it would aid their collaborative efforts when treating children and adolescents with ASD. They show that, by working together with the families to establish joint objectives, these professionals can appropriately address sex and affective education, preventing risky behaviours among young people with ASD, and improving the interactions these individuals have with others. Sex and affective education is described as an indispensable tool at this stage of development and should be specially adapted for those with ASD.

Background: Autistic people have communication, sensorial, and social difficulties, which on many occasions, make their adaptation on the sexual and affective levels difficult. For this reason, it is important to know the opinion of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families, to offer this perspective to professionals to facilitate adapted health education programs in mental health units. Methods: This qualitative descriptive design presents the experiences of autistic individuals and their families in relation to the affective-sexual experiences from individual, family, and social perspectives. Two focus group sessions were held with eight family members and seven individual semi-structured interviews with autistic young adults. The transcripts were qualitatively analysed using content analysis. Results: Four themes (Family and social dynamic; Social behaviour of the autistic individual; Affective-sexual relationships; Addressing affective and sex education) and 13 related categories emerged from these results. Communication and social interaction problems act as barriers for young adults when developing affective-sexual relationships, leading to the emergence of negative feelings and experiences that reinforce avoidance behaviours, further intensifying their difficulties in interacting with others. Families, especially mothers, exhibit a poor perception of their ability to provide affective-sexual guidance, leading to anxiety and frustration. There are also reports of poor sex education and lack of support systems. Conclusions and implications for practice: The experiences of young people and their families are sometimes conflicting when it comes to affectivity and sexuality, but the parental role emerges as relevant in the sex education process. Families play a pivotal role in sex education, which is why professionals should provide them with support and information through health education programmes, foster empathetic communication and promote sexual and emotional development that is adapted to the characteristics and interests of autistic people.