“INSIDE” Project on Sexual Health in Spain: The Impact of the Lockdown Caused by COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic is becoming a major hazard to public health worldwide. This is causing a significant impact on life and physical health, as well as on the psychological well-being of the general population. Since the emotional distress and the social restrictions caused by this epidemic, it must be expected that its impact will also extend to sexual health. The purpose of this study, the first including a large sample of the Spanish general population, was to analyze sexual behavior during the 99 days of confinement in Spain (INSIDE Project). Method. 1,448 Spanish people, between 18 and 60 years old, were evaluated through an online survey during April 2020. The variables analyzed were the physical and social environment during confinement, sexual desire, type of sexual activity, masturbation, sexual intercourse, online sexual activity, general sexual frequency, sexual fantasies, degree of self-control over sexual drive, sexual abuse, general impact of confinement on sexuality and emotional mood. Results. Confinement has affected the sexual life of half of the Spanish population (47.7%), especially women. Those who reported a worsening of their sexual life are almost three times more (37.9%) than those who reported an improvement (14.4%). Conclusions. Different factors have been significant predictors of the positive or negative valoration about the impact of this confinement on sexual life, such as gender, couple life, privacy, stress level and the perception of confinement as unbearable. Policy Implications. These results have important implications for the public health and more especially sexual health of the Spanish population.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual Health: A Preliminary Framework Based on a Qualitative Study With Clinical Sexologists

“… 13 In sum, COVID-19 crisis may prompt or decrease different aspects of sexual life, depending on explored variables and diverse determinants, such as gender, privacy, age, or the perception of confinement as unbearable. 18 , 19 …”

Love in the Time of Corona: Predicting Willingness to Engage in Sexting During the First COVID-19-Related Lockdown

“…In spring 2020, well over 100 countries and billions of people were in lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As fear of contagion and pandemic mitigation measures forced individuals to minimize physical contact (Dunford, 2020 ), technology-mediated communication gained importance in satisfying the need for intimacy (Ballester-Arnal et al, 2020 ). One way to be intimate without physical contact is sexting, i.e., the exchange of sexually suggestive or explicit texts and (semi-)naked photographs via mobile phones and social media (Albury et al, 2013 ; Amundsen, 2022 ).…”

“…Research showed that during the lockdown, there was a sharp decrease in partnered sexual activity (Li et., 2020 ; Sanchez et al, 2020 ). In particular, those who did not live with a partner reported a decline in their sexual lives during the lockdown (Ballester-Arnal et al, 2020 ) Even within couples (who lived together), fear of contagion and limited opportunities have reduced physical contact (Ibarra et al, 2020 ; Schiavi et al, 2020 ) as an immediate form of stress and fear relief.…”

Impacto emocional de la pandemia de COVID-19 durante el periodo de confinamiento en España: Factores protectores y factores de riesgo/vulnerabilidad

“…referidos a poblaciones de adultos en general (Alvites-Huamani, 2020;González-Sanguino et al, 2020;Hidalgo et al, 2020;Jiménez et al, 2020;Odriozola-González et al, 2020;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2020;Subirón, 2020;personas mayores (Velasco et al, 2020), niños y adolescentes (Gómez-Becerra et al, 2020;Orgilés et al, 2020;Pedreira, 2020), y en profesionales de la salud (Romero et al, 2020;Monteiro da Silva et al, 2020). También se ha constatado que el confinamiento y la pandemia de COVID-19 puede afectar negativamente a otras facetas psicológicas como la conducta sexual (Ballester-Arnal et al, 2020;, el equilibrio laboral -balance ocupacional-(González-Bernal et al, 2020) y la perturbación de la vida cotidiana (Parada y Zambrano, 2020). Así mismo, se han llevado a cabo estudios de intervención para reducir y/o prevenir el impacto emocional de la pandemia (Jiménez et al, 2020;Lugo-González et al, 2020;Rodríguez-Ceberio, 2020), así como también propuestas de actuación (Espada et al, 2020;Pedreira, 2020).…”