Psychological and Psychosexual Adjustment in University Students as a Function of Sexual Activity and Relationship Type

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to examine the differences in some variables of psychological (depression, anxiety, physical self-esteem) and psychosexual (self-esteem as a sexual partner, satisfaction with sexual life, sexual preoccupation) adjustment in a sample of university students, as a function of gender, and divided into three groups: (1) those who had a stable partner; (2) those who did not have a stable partner but did have casual sexual relations; and (3) those who had neither a stable partner nor casual relationships. Participants were 980 students from a mid-size Spanish university, of both sexes (71.3% women, 28.7% men), aged between 18 and 26 years (M = 20.87, SD = 1.88), who completed an online battery of questionnaires. Differences were found in psychological and psychosexual adjustment variables depending on the reference group and both in men and women. Some of these differences were explained by having a partner and others by having sexual relations, regardless of the partner with whom they had sex. These differences and their impact on young people’s psychological adjustment and wellness should be taken into account when designing sexual health prevention and promotion programs.

Keywords:

• Sexual relationships
• romantic partner
• casual sex
• psychosocial and psychosexual adjustment
• university students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Government of Spain, under grant PGC2018-097086-A-I00; and Government of Aragon (Department of Science, University and Knowledge Society). Group S31_23R.