Which factors contribute to sexual well-being? A comparative study among 17 to 20 year old boys and girls in Belgium and Ecuador

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of respondents at each site.

	Belgium		Ecuador
Age	Female	Male	Female	Male
17				1
18	7	4	5	3
19	2	5	5	9
20	6	6	3	3

Table 2. Factors contributing to adolescent sexual well-being.

Individual level	Individual personality Being physically, sexually and mentally mature and healthy Comprehensive sexuality education
Interpersonal level	Positive attraction to the partner Communication about sexuality
Societal level	Comprehensive sexuality education Access to affordable birth control Openness towards sexuality and sexual and gender diversity

Table 3. Comparison of results to the two main existing definitions of (adolescent) sexual well-being.

WHO working definition of sexual health	Harden (2014)’s categories	Findings from this study
Physical well-being	Positive feelings such as arousal Freedom from pain	Sexual attraction and desire Orgasm Lack of addictions Lack of diseases Lack of pain
Emotional well-being	Positive feelings such as satisfaction	Feelings of trust Being in love Liking yourself
Mental well-being	Self-esteem Self-efficacy—agency Freedom from anxiety	Knowledge Skills Acceptance of (changing) body Lack of drug and alcohol misuse Lack of negative experiences such as violence
Social well-being		Being able to talk about sex with partner and significant others Feelings of trust and certainty about the partner and the relationship Lack of pressure to be sexually active

Table

	Pseudonyms and biological sex	Age (years)
IV 1	Sophie—female	20
IV 2	Leen—female	19
IV 3	Karel—male	20
IV 4*	Annelien—female	18
IV 5*	Tom—male	20
IV 6*	Jeroen—male	18
	Age (years) and sex of participants
Focus group 1—Mixed	1: 18 (male) 2: 18 (male) 3: 18 4: 19 5: 20 6: 20
Focus group 2—Mixed	1: 18* 2: 18 (female)* 3: 20 (female) 4: 20 (female) 5: 20* 6: 20 7: 19
Focus group 3—Female	1: 18 2: 18 3: 18 4: 18 5: 20
Focus group 4—Male	1: 20 2: 19 3: 19 4: 19 5: 20 6: 19

Table

	Pseudonyms and biological sex	Age (years)
IV 1	Violeta—female	18
IV 2	Trinidad—female	20
IV 3	Rodrigo—male	17
IV 4	Javier—male	19
IV 5	Carolina—female	18
IV 6	Matías—male	19
	Age (years) and sex of participants
Focus group 1—Male	1: 18 2: 19 3: 19 4: 19 5: 19
Focus group 2—Mixed	1: 19 2: 20 3: 20 4: 19 5: 19 (male) 6: 20 (male)
Focus group 3—Mixed	1: 18 2: 19 3: 18 (male) 4: 18 (male) 5: 19 6: 19
Focus group 4—Mixed	1: 18 (female) 2: 19 (male) 3: 18 (female) 4: 19 (female) 5: 19 (male) 6: 20 (male)

Harden, K. P. 2014. “A Sex-Positive Framework for Research on Adolescent Sexuality.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 9 (5): 455–469.

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