PSY 4122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Casual Sex, Sexual Assault, Sexual Penetration
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 13, 2018
Casual Sexual Relationships and the Impact on Mental
Health
Eve Beauchamp, Kathleen Monteiro, Molly Rooyakkers (Group 5)
RQ
Do casual sexual relationships have an impact on the mental health outcomes of emerging adults?
Why?
-Uncommitted sex is increasingly normative
-Tinder, Bumble, etc. making it easier
Operationalized Terms
Hook up: engaging in physically intimate behaviours raiding from kissing to sexual intercourse with someone with
whom you do not have a committed relationship
Casual sex: sex with someone you have no interest in pursuing a relationship with
Mental health
Emerging adults: 18-26 year olds
Inclusion/Exclusion
Inclusion:
-18-26yo
-Men and Women
Exclusion:
-Sexual assault
-STI or STD
Final 10 articles included based on:
-Focus on casual sex and hookups
-Consequences on mental health/psychological well-being
-Outcomes on emerging adults
Varied Definitions
Mental health:
1
March 13, 2018
-Most articles seem to talk about mental health generally and don’t focus on one issues (ex. Depression or anxiety)
-Often referred to as psychological well-being instead of mental health
Varied definitions of what counts as a sexual experience
Participant Characteristics
Gender: most studies included more females
Location: all studies were conducted in the US
Ages: all participants between 18-26 years old
-Included one longitudinal study including participants from 12-17 and 26-32 years old
Ethnicity: majority of participants were white, but other groups were included
Educational level: almost all studies involved college and undergraduate students (except the longitudinal studies)
Sexual identity: only considered in half of the studies
Participants in Casual Sexual Relationships
Issues with time-frame definition: casual sex in the last six months? In university? Ever?
Issues with definitions of casual sex
-Some studies counting kissing/making-out as hooking up —> had increased prevalence rates
-Some studies only included oral and penetrative sex —> had decreased prevalence rates
Penetrative sex life-time prevalence rates:
-Ranged from 29% - 80%
7/10 studies found negative psychological consequences associated with casual sex
Types of Negative Consequences
Most looked at things like depression, anxiety, etc.
Some-included self-reported consequences: ex. Feelings of regret, feelings of anxiety, feelings of depression, feat of
STIs or pregnancy, negative emotional reactions, relationship of interpersonal conflict, etc.
-Expected fear of STIs or pregnancy to be the highest, but only reported in 19% of people
-Feelings of regret were actually the most common
Bersamin (2014):
-Casual sex negatively correlated with psychological well-being
-Casual sex positively correlated with psychological distress
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Document Summary
Casual sexual relationships and the impact on mental. Eve beauchamp, kathleen monteiro, molly rooyakkers (group 5) Hook up: engaging in physically intimate behaviours raiding from kissing to sexual intercourse with someone with whom you do not have a committed relationship. Casual sex: sex with someone you have no interest in pursuing a relationship with. Most articles seem to talk about mental health generally and don"t focus on one issues (ex. Often referred to as psychological well-being instead of mental health. Varied de nitions of what counts as a sexual experience. Location: all studies were conducted in the us. Included one longitudinal study including participants from 12-17 and 26-32 years old. Ethnicity: majority of participants were white, but other groups were included. Educational level: almost all studies involved college and undergraduate students (except the longitudinal studies) Sexual identity: only considered in half of the studies. Some studies counting kissing/making-out as hooking up > had increased prevalence rates.
