COVID-19 and Sex: How the Pandemic Has Impacted Sexual Behaviors

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped our lives in countless ways, impacting the activities we do, the plans we make, and even how we relate to one another. Around the world, local and federal governments have implemented regulations or provided guidelines around reducing interpersonal contact to limit the spread of the virus. Logically, such regulations and health care guidelines could have an impact on an individual's sexual health because sex generally involves close physical contact between people.

A recent study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the sexual behaviors, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence of a large convenience sample of participants across the United States. The participants of this study were recruited to take a survey through a nationwide platform that compensates workers for completing tasks (in this case, the participants received $5 for completing the survey).

After removing incomplete and duplicate surveys, a total of 1,051 responses were collected from 48 U.S. states. Participants were asked to provide information on their personal characteristics including age, sexual orientation, relationship status, race, income level, education level, and employment status. Then, they were asked to respond to questions regarding frequency of sexual behaviors, sexual and romantic satisfaction, and sexual and physical violence.

Frequency of Sexual Behaviors

For this section of the survey, participants were asked to indicate which sexual behaviors they had participated in during the past year. The sexual behaviors listed in the survey included sex with a current partner, masturbation, porn use, sex with a casual partner, sending sexual messages or photos, use of sex toys, and webcam/cybersex. Then, for each sexual behavior that a respondent had engaged in, they were asked the following two questions:

1. In the months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, how often have you [sexual behavior]?
2. In the year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, how often did you [sexual behavior]?

Sexual and Romantic Satisfaction

Next, the participants were asked to rate their sexual desire on a 6-point Likert scale (1 being “no desire” to 6 being “very strong desire”), their sexual enjoyment or pleasure on a scale adapted from the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire, and (for those with a partner) their satisfaction with their current romantic relationship on the Relationship Satisfaction Scale. The participants provided two ratings for each of these categories, one for the months since the start of the pandemic and one for the year before the pandemic had started.

Sexual and Physical Violence

Finally, the participants were asked if a partner had physically threatened them or forced them to have sex since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who responded in the affirmative were asked if the physical, sexual, or emotional violence had increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Analysis of the participants’ responses revealed small but significant decreases in some sexual behaviors. The sexual behaviors that had the biggest decrease in frequency were sex with a casual partner and hookups. Participants also reported an overall decrease in number of sexual partners since the start of the pandemic. Intuitively, this finding makes sense because individuals are motivated to limit close personal contacts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The women who participated in the study experienced a small decrease in sexual desire since the start of the pandemic, and the men reported slight increases in masturbation and porn use. Both men and women experienced a small decrease in sexual pleasure/enjoyment. There were no changes found in relationship satisfaction or sexual or physical violence.

Although the results of this study may seem to suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negligible overall impact on the sexual behaviors of the participants, even small changes to a person’s sex life can feel significant. If you are concerned about changes in your sexual health or relationship, whether related to COVID-19 or not, it may be helpful to speak with a sex therapist or sexual medicine specialist about your situation.

Resources:

Gleason, N., Banik, S., Braverman, J., & Coleman, E. (2021). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual Behaviors: Findings From a National Survey in the United States. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 18(11), 1851-1862. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.08.008.