Diverse Sexual Behaviors in Undergraduate Students: Findings From a Campus Probability Survey

Abstract

Background Probability-based surveys of college students typically assess sexual behaviors such as oral, vaginal, and anal sex. Little is known about the broader range of sexual behaviors in which students engage. Aims In a random sample survey of undergraduate students, we aimed to: (1) describe how recently participants had engaged in solo and partnered sexual behaviors, (2) examine how frequently participants enacted certain rough sex sexual behaviors (e.g., light spanking, hard spanking, choking, slapping, and others), (3) assess participants’ frequency of experiencing certain rough sex behaviors, (4) describe participants’ frequency of threesome/group sex, (5) assess the characteristics of participants’ experiences with choking during sex; and (6) examine choking and face slapping in regard to consent. Methods A confidential, online cross-sectional survey of 4,989 randomly sampled undergraduate students at a large U.S. university. Outcomes Participants reported having engaged in a broad range of solo and partnered sexual activities, including rough sex behaviors. RESULTS The most prevalent general sexual behaviors were solo masturbation (88.6%), oral sex (79.4% received, 78.4% performed), penile-vaginal intercourse (73.5%), and partnered masturbation (71.1%). Anal intercourse was the least prevalent of these behaviors (16.8% received, 25.3% performed). Among those with any partnered sexual experience, 43.0% had choked a partner, 47.3% had been choked, 59.1% had been lightly spanked and 12.1% had been slapped on the face during sex. Clinical translation College health clinicians and educators need to be aware of the diverse and evolving range of solo and partnered sexual behaviors reported by students. In addition to counseling students about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection risk, clinicians might assess patients’ engagement in diverse sexual behaviors, such as choking/strangulation during sex, given the risk for serious outcomes including death. Strengths and limitations Strengths of our research include the large sample size, use of random sampling, high response rate for college populations, broad range of behaviors assessed, and novel data on choking during sex. Among our limitations, we did not assess to what extent the experiences were wanted, pleasurable, or appealing to participants. Except for in relation to choking and slapping, we also did not assess issues of consent. CONCLUSION Participants reported engaging in diverse sexual behaviors, some of which have important clinical implications, are understudied, and warrant further research.

BDSM: Does it Hurt or Help Sexual Satisfaction, Relationship Satisfaction, and Relationship Closeness?

“…However, this finding is also in contrast to previous research, which has found that those with older age were more represented in BDSM communities (Alison et al, 2001). Together, the absence of educational level and gender differences, and the reversal of the age association could be indicative of the general mainstreaming of BDSM (Andrieu et al, 2019;Simula, 2019;Sisson, 2007;Weiss, 2006) that has occurred in recent years, especially considering that BDSMrelated sexual activities are found to be relatively prevalent in college-age populations (Herbenick et al, 2021). Conversely, our findings that more of the younger populations were BDSM-oriented than older participants (which differs from previous studies) may be due to methodological differences, as this study was conducted online and earlier studies were often conducted in person or recruited participants through BDSM clubs.…”

Frequent and Recent Non-fatal Strangulation/Choking During Sex and Its Association With fMRI Activation During Working Memory Tasks

“…Lastly, we restricted participant eligibility to female students, reducing the applicability of these preliminary findings to men, but this decision was supported by two reasons. Previous literature suggests being choked/strangled, both in cases of IPV and as a partnered sexual behavior, is highly gendered, with significantly more women being choked/strangled as compared to men (McClane et al, 2001 ; Herbenick et al, 2021e ). Additionally, sex differences have been reported in working memory behavioral performance (Voyer et al, 2017 , 2021 ) and fMRI activation during working memory tasks (Bell et al, 2006 ; Zilles et al, 2016 ).…”

“…As awareness of choking/strangulation as a partnered sexual behavior has entered mainstream conversations, questions concerning the safety and long-term psychological and neurologic consequences of being choked/strangled in this context have been raised (Herbenick et al, 2021e ). Recent and frequent exposure to being choked has been linked to worse mental health in a recent probability survey of undergraduate students.…”

“…Acute and chronic effects of stress have been linked to widespread changes in activation and connectivity in the brain (van Oort et al, 2017 ; Kunimatsu et al, 2020 ). That said, the majority of sexual choking events have been described as consensual, wanted, and often initiated by women (Herbenick et al, 2021b , d , e ). Fifth, we did not assess tendencies to participate in risky sex or sensation-seeking behaviors, which may be contributing factors to engaging in sexual choking.…”

Frequency, Method, Intensity, and Health Sequelae of Sexual Choking Among U.S. Undergraduate and Graduate Students

“…Research from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany demonstrates that sexual choking/strangulation has become prevalent among young adults, disproportionately affects women, often begins in adolescence, and is frequently first learned about through pornography, social media, partners, and friends (Herbenick et al, 2020(Herbenick et al, , 2021c(Herbenick et al, , 2022bSavanta Com Res, 2019;Sun et al, 2017;Wright et al, 2015). In a random sample survey of 4,989 U.S. college students, 58% of women had ever been choked during sex, and one quarter of women were first choked by age 17 (Herbenick et al, 2021c). In New Zealand, sexual choking has been identified as a growing trend among youth (Beres et al, 2020).…”