Coitally active university students: sexual behaviors, concerns, and challenges

The past fifteen years, in particular, have seen a major increase in the extent to which both adolescents and young adults are engaging in sexual intercourse. While several studies call attention to the increasing incidence among college/university students, the concomitant shifts in the sociopsychological realms of sexuality are also important dimensions which impact upon sexual concerns of youth. Hence, the purposes of this study are to examine the behaviors, attitudes, and concerns of students who have engaged in coitus, as well as any changes they seek in their sex lives. The sample consisted of 123 never-married male and 205 never-married female undergraduate students from a state university. The data were obtained by utilizing an anonymous questionnaire administered to volunteers during regular university classes. Among the coitally active, 67.4% of males were psychologically satisfied after their first sexual experience, but only 28.3% of females. In contrast, 80.9% of males and 28.3% of females reported current psychological satisfaction with their sexual experiences. Significant differences between genders focused on male dissatisfaction with infrequent opportunities for sexual intercourse, lack of variety of sex partners, and insufficient oral-genital stimulation, whereas females expressed concerns relating to lack of stimulation to their breasts, painful sexual intercourse, lack of orgasm during sexual intercourse, and feelings of guilt and fear. An increasing awareness of current sexual behaviors, attitudes, and concerns of university students can help family life educators to meet student needs as they react to changes in interpersonal relationships, families, and society.