Satisfying romantic relationships often feature high levels of nurturance and eroticism. Consensually non-monogamous (CNM) individuals may experience these with additional partners, potentially reducing the need for both to be present in a primary relationship to achieve satisfaction. We assessed how nurturance and eroticism relate to relationship satisfaction in single-partnered (n = 289) and multi-partnered

Sexual minority youth, compared to their heterosexual peers, have a disproportionate burden of sexual risks, but it remains unclear whether such inequalities exist across cultures and countries. We used data from eight European countries participating in the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study to analyze sexual behavior in representative samples of adolescents aged 14.5-16.5 years

Chemsex, a form of sexualized drug use, is prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom (UK), contributing to public health concerns like increased HIV transmission and overdose risk. This study explored the link between early first anal sex and chemsex engagement among MSM, a connection that has been underexplored in the UK. Analyzing data from 10,702 UK-based MSM from the

Although previous studies have established links between anxiety disorders, sexual dysfunctions, and sexual satisfaction, there is relatively little research on the specific factors associated with living with an anxiety disorder that might contribute to these sexual health disparities. This study assessed the associations between anxiety, cognitive distractions, biased expectancies, and 1) sexual

The Diagnostic Interview for Sexual Dysfunctions in Women (DISEX-F) is a clinician-administered instrument allowing for an ICD-11 and DSM-5-compliant assessment of female sexual dysfunctions. Due to limited time and resources in practice and research, as well as patients' reticence in discussing sexual issues, a computer-administered self-report version was developed (DISEX-F-SR). This study aimed

College sexual assault is a persistent public health problem in the United States. A public health approach to develop effective prevention strategies must take into account the social ecology of college campuses, including interpersonal-, community-, and institutional-level factors that may influence sexual assault. To maximize effectiveness, prevention strategies should be tailored to reflect contextual

Sexual desire is a complex construct with important implications for sexual functioning and well-being. In this research, we translated the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI-2), a widely used scale for assessing sexual (desire), into 25 languages from English and used data from the International Sex Survey (ISS) to (a) investigate its psychometric properties (i.e. factorial structure, reliability, validity

Kink and BDSM can have healing and liberatory potential for practitioners, whether kink-identified or not, particularly Black women and those who are members of alternative sexual communities. This study presents data from N = 22 kink/BDSM-identified, experienced, and non-kinky/BDSM Black ciswomen on their awareness of and engagement in kink and BDSM (bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism, dominance

We developed and validated a measure of the depth of the resolution experience - the Sexual Resolution Scale (SRS). Portuguese-speaking participants responded to an online survey including the SRS whose eight items were derived from the literature on post-sex states: 1) deeply relaxed, 2) with elevated heart rate, 3) with intensified emotions, 4) more aware of body, 5) in a profound peace, 6) more

Previous research on male clients of sex workers has emphasized the diversity of purchasing behaviors; however, we know little about how to organize or categorize this diversity quantitatively. I employed latent class analysis with survey data from cisgender male clients of primarily cisgender female sex workers in the United States to organize client consumption patterns by the type of venue used

Comprehensive sex education (CSE) is linked to several favorable health outcomes yet is consistently underfunded and under-implemented. This is likely due to the perceived controversy of CSE, but research indicates that CSE in the K-12 system is widely supported in most areas of the U.S. Legislators, school board members, and funding agencies need a more thorough and accurate understanding of their

Few U.S. states require school-based sex education to be representative or inclusive of LGBTQ+ people. Data suggests that adolescents’ receipt of necessary topics in sex education has declined in t...

The prevalence of sexual assault (SA) among college students (13%) is unacceptable, underreported, and alcohol use by the perpetrator or victim is reported in 50% of SA cases. Bystander interventio...

Prior research with heterosexual and gay men suggests that heteronormative, hegemonic masculine norms influence sexual behaviors, including in relation to sexual health, and in sex between men, positioning in anal intercourse. This qualitative study offers an in-depth account of how bisexual men's beliefs about masculinity and about the gendered nature of certain sexual behaviors may influence their

Research on chemsex, the intentional use of certain drugs in sexual contexts by gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), has been growing in recent years although, even today, much of it ...

Although sexting is a widespread phenomenon among today’s youth, little is known about their experiences of sexting with their intimate partners. This study addresses this gap by examining young pe...

The current study investigated the phenomenon of faking orgasms, including the reasons why people stop faking orgasms, sociodemographic predictors of faking orgasms, its association with sex toy us...

Asexuality is a sexual orientation centered around low or absent sexual attraction. Despite the growth of empirical scholarship on asexuality, laboratory sex research with asexual individuals remai...

Sexualized drug use (SDU) describes use of any psychoactive substance before or during planned sexual activity to facilitate, intensify, or prolong intercourse. The impact of pain, pleasure, and ot...

Existing research finds that people's perspectives on sexual interactions shift with time and new experiences. Despite this, little empirical work has explored the role that communication following a sexual interaction plays in partners' perceptions of each other and the sexual interaction. This study began to address this gap by applying impression management theory and gender performance theory to

Pornography has become increasingly prevalent and normalized within society, raising questions about how today’s adolescents might differ in their responses to and attitudes toward pornography comp...

This study sought to reach an international expert consensus regarding the diagnosis and treatment of adults with a sexual interest in children in cases where treatment is non-mandated. An expert p...

The current study investigated how foundational conversations about the body and sexuality begin, how they develop longitudinally, and whether parental body talk varies as a function of characteris...

There is a well-established body of literature on parent-child sexual communication (PCSC) among Black families. Still, most of this work focuses on reducing sexual risk behaviors among Black girls...

To date, most sexual assault research has focused on specific perpetrator tactics, including verbal coercion, substance-related incapacitation, and force. Responding to recent calls to assess a bro...

During hookups some people use coercive tactics to obtain sex from a reluctant partner. The current study explored whether individuals with greater conformity to traditional masculine ideologies (T...

Comprehensive sexual health education for young people often remains largely inaccessible, leaving gaps in knowledge about sexual consent, refusals, sexual assault, and sexting. Snapchat’s My AI, t...

Orgasm is considered by many to be an essential part of women's ideal sexual experiences. As a result, sexual liberation narratives have often advocated for the prioritization of women's orgasms - particularly during heterosex - framing them as a central indicator of "good," healthy, liberated sex. However, scholars have increasingly critiqued these narratives, arguing that they result in an orgasm

Sexual desire has often been conceptualized and studied as an individual trait. However, empirical evidence suggests that there is also value in studying it as a state and dyadic construct. Through...

This study compared the qualitative nature of women and men’s sexual violence (SV) victimization, the types of experiences captured and missed on the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimizat...

The association between mood and sexual desire has been the object of significant scientific and public interest. How mood shapes and is shaped by sexual desire is typically studied within one and ...

Pornography use has become a normative sexual behavior. Despite this, little is known about how romantic couples navigate, discuss, or create boundaries and rules about pornography use in their rel...

Despite increased scholarly attention being paid to minority stress and sexual satisfaction among sexual minorities, to our knowledge, no researchers have attempted to systematically synthesize thi...

We tested whether sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms are partially explained by a path through attachment anxiety or avoidance leading to ineffective coping strategies. A conveni...

The sexual incentive motivation model suggests that attractive stimuli activate the sexual response system. Attraction toward one’s partner has been linked to greater sexual satisfaction, but no qu...

This article provides a review and visualization of findings over the last 30 years related to the orgasm gap between men and women in heterosexual encounters. We describe and compare techniques co...

Departures from monogamy are socially discouraged and met with negative judgments, and being a target of stigmatization has consequences for the way individuals in consensual non-monogamous (CNM) r...

There is growing interest in understanding how sexual arousal unfolds between partners, and how this may change over the course of a relationship and in the face of sexual distress. To capture the ...

When searching for a partner, people often rely on social cues to determine partners’ suitability, finding those who attract attention from others particularly appealing. While people continue to e...

While early uses of technology in the sex industry centered on increasing accessibility to pornography or expanding advertising opportunities for direct service sex workers, the growing prevalence ...

Recent research has supported the positive effects of self-compassion for couples’ relationships; however, these efforts have only recently been applied to couples’ sexuality. Although there is som...

Kink, often referred to as BDSM, is an important aspect of a sizable minority’s sexual desires, practices, and personal relationships, yet there are few ways to assess kink engagement in a holistic...

Sexual conflict is common, yet it is one of the most challenging topics for couples because it provokes more negative emotions relative to other conflicts. Such challenges might prompt couples to r...

Chemsex defines the practice of sexual activity under the influence of psychoactive substances, mainly by Men who have Sex with Men (MSM). This activity can be associated with negative health conse...

Drivers of poor sexual health outcomes among Black heterosexual man are poorly understood. Previous research has identified a need to understand Black men’s behavioral experiences and motivators in...

This study examined lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) cancer patients’ sexual well-being post-cancer, and the associations between sexual well-being and social suppor...

Methodologists from a variety of social and behavioral sciences have called attention to misunderstandings, misclassifications, and misapplications of third variable “controls” in observational res...

Heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men (H-MSM) are a unique population difficult to identify and recruit for research and practice. Yet, engaging H-MSM remains a top research priority to...

Published in The Journal of Sex Research (Ahead of Print, 2024)

The goal of this study was to explore the sexual activities that older adults consider as having had sex and to examine correlates of the ways that older men and women define sex. A sample of 286 m...

The Sexual Experiences Survey [SES] is considered the gold standard measure of non-consensual sexual experiences. This article introduces a new victimization version [SES-V] developed by a multidis...

The Sexual Experiences Survey is the most widely used measure of sexual assault victimization and perpetration among college students. To improve comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, the current re...

The Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization (SES-V; see Koss et al., 2024) revises the prior 2007 Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV) in many ways, including expanded measurement of verbally pressured and illegal sexual exploitation, as well as the addition of items that assess being made to perform a sexual act or to penetrate another person sexually. The current article describes

The new Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization (SES-V) was designed to capture a larger range of sexual exploitation and to be applicable to more diverse populations than prior measures. This stud...

Since the initial development of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) four decades ago, the SES has been designed to measure a range of forms of sexual exploitation, including acts that are coercive...

This article describes the development of the Verbally Pressured Sexual Exploitation module of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES)-Victimization (introduced by Koss et al., 2024). This module asses...

Vulvodynia, a long-term genital pain disorder with a high lifetime prevalence, profoundly impacts both the affected women and their partners. However, the experiences of these partners have been un...

Understanding sexual consent is essential for the promotion of healthy sexual relationships and the prevention of sexual violence. Emerging sexual technologies can provide opportunities for users t...

Rape myths support and fuel cultural understandings regarding gender roles and deny the victim’s rights and strengthen those of the instigator. Little research exists examining the invariance of ra...

Humans have sex for myriad reasons, many unrelated to desire. But under what conditions does sexual desire not lead to sex? We investigated reasons college students refrain from sex despite desire ...