Sexual activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia

Abstract

Background Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally starting from late 2019. The WHO declared it a global pandemic in March 2020, causing nations around the world to introduce various control measures to halt the rapid spread of the disease, such as quarantines, lockdowns, and work from home (WFH) policies. These policies often force people to spend more time at home with their cohabitants, or possibly sexual partners. Various negative feelings experienced during those policies are considered to affect the general mood and sexual life of the population. This study aimed to investigate the difference in mood and sexual activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This research was a cross-sectional pilot study. Authors collected data from 131 randomly selected, sexually active volunteer subjects using a self-administered online questionnaire. Subjects’ mood status, behavior, and frequency of sexual intercourse before and during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia were analyzed. Results Subjects consisted of 67 (51.1%) men and 64 (48.9%) women. Our analysis shows that there was a decline in overall mood scale, and also sexual activity frequency, before and during the pandemic (4.63 vs. 4.03; 80.2% vs. 67.9%, respectively). The COVID-19 pandemic control measures may enable subjects to have more time with their sexual partners at home, but it does not increase the frequency of their sexual activities. Conclusion There was a slight decrease in overall mood scale and sexual activity frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic recorded among subjects. The authors suspect that depression symptoms, fear, anxiety, irritability, boredom, confusion, and feeling of being isolated experienced during strict pandemic control measures, caused by stressors such as job loss, decreased monthly income, and the current state of the pandemic are influencing these phenomena.

Effect of an early pandemic phase of COVID-19 on sexual health

“…However, 3.8% reported having more sexual partners than before the pandemic ( see Table 3). These findings contradict the findings of certain research (Arafat et al, 2020;Kusuma, Brodjonegoro, Soerohardjo, Hendri, & Yuri, 2021) which found no change in sexual activity (Cabello, Sánchez, Farré, & Montejo, 2020;Cito et al, 2021;Feng et al, 2021;Gouvernet & Bonierbale, 2021;Karagöz et al, 2021;Reda, Sehlo, Youssef, & Elsayed, 2022;Schiavi et al, 2020). According to Table 4, most respondents (76.5%) had no change in the number of sexual partners.…”

Exploring the adult sexual wellbeing and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Behaviors of intimacy were similarly deteriorated, with two studies reporting significant reduction of romantic practices such as hugging or cuddling ( 35 , 36 ). Two of the included studies examined the use of contraceptive measures, and results were contradicting; one revealed a more than 50% decline for non-cohabiting partners ( 69 ), and one reported no change ( 47 ). Three studies, which all included males who have sex with males, concluded in contradicting results; two found increased masturbation and cybersex ( 67 ), and avoidance of casual sexual intercourse with this reaching 15times fold reduction ( 46 ), while Shilo and Mor reported that almost half of their participants continued casual intercourse, but with limited repertoire ( 66 ).…”

Is There a Direct Link between Sexual Satisfaction and Restrictions during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

“…On the other hand, research during the pandemic indicates that a worsening of sexual well-being was experienced overall by those who were at base more vulnerable to high distress. High distress, anxiety, and depression were predictors of high risk of sexual dysfunction and low sexual satisfaction in numerous studies (e.g., [19,20,24,25,28,29,32,35,36,[39][40][41]43,44,46]). Zhang et al [39] showed that Chinese participants who experienced a high stressful impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their life were likelier to assess the quality of their sex life as worse and to declare a lower frequency of sexual activity.…”

“…Research on changes in sexual behavior during the pandemic indicated ambiguous results. Decrease in frequency of sexual activity and casual sex, or increased risk of sexual dysfunction, masturbation and pornography use, were reported in adults from Brasil [17], Canada [18], China [19][20][21][22][23], Egypt [24], France [25], Germany [26][27][28], Indonesia [29], Italy [30], Poland [31,32], Singapore [33], United Kingdom (UK) [34], and United States of America (USA) [35,36]. A decrease in sexual satisfaction was reported during the pandemic (when compared to pre-pandemic time) among healthcare professionals from Brasil [17], adults from Egypt [24], France [25], Germany [28], Kenya [37], and Singapore [33]; among patients with infertility from China [19]; and among women from Poland [31], Italy [30], and the USA [35].…”