Sexual Coping Mechanisms During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Determinants of Use, Usefulness, and Effects on Sex Life

Abstract

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many people’s sex lives. The ways people cope with these adverse impacts are an urgent area that needs to be recognized by sexual health researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Thus, this study investigated sexual coping mechanisms during the pandemic while clarifying their determinants of use and usefulness and examining their impacts on the quantity and quality of sex life. Methods The cross-sectional data ( N = 675) were collected using an online survey methodology in February–May 2021. The data were analyzed with one-sample and independent-samples t -tests, one-way between-subjects ANOVA, and multivariate multiple regression. Results This study identified eight sexual coping mechanisms during the pandemic, including creativity and pleasure, diversion, goal-setting, relational, educational, caution and logistical, online and technological, and innovation and experimentation strategies. All the coping mechanisms were used and rated significantly useful, albeit to different degrees. Gender, availability of a sex partner, the existence of children, and age served as determinants of different coping mechanisms’ scope of use and degree of usefulness. The coping mechanisms predicted the frequency of sexual activity, sexual desire, and satisfaction with sex life during the pandemic. Conclusions This study’s results can help scholars and practitioners prevent or mitigate the deterioration of sex life during the pandemics and other crises and stressors. It is essential to train people concerning sexual coping resources and strategies to protect their sexual wellbeing and quality of life. Policy Implications Health researchers, practitioners, and policymakers must consider maintaining sexual health as an essential service. Recognizing sexual health, rights, education, and counseling is a prerequisite for appropriate prevention measures during the pandemic. It is vital to ensure the availability of proper resources supporting people’s sexual coping processes during and after the pandemic.

Increased reproductive tract infections among secondary school girls during the COVID-19 pandemic: associations with pandemic-related stress, mental health, and domestic safety

“…Having a boyfriend, the most proximal factor to BV and having greater likelihood of sexual exposure, may represent a coping mechanism in response to financial stress, feeling less safe in the home, or feelings of depression and anxiety. As reviewed in a study of sexual coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic, sexual connections and the intimacy entailed “can help cope with stressors and traumatic events.” 36 While not disaggregated by gender, the most frequently reported sexual strategies were sex as a source of pleasure and intimacy, to bond with and please a partner, to express care and strengthen the relationship, or to relieve stress and relax. A cross-sectional survey of Kenyan schoolgoing adolescents aged 13 to 19 years living in Nairobi or the coast region found high prevalences of anxiety (19.1%) and elevated depressive symptoms (19.1% with PHQ-9 > 10), as well as high mean scores for emotional and behavioral problems.…”