Abstract
It remains unclear how the seemingly ubiquitous use of the internet impacts user's offline personal relationships, particularly those that are romantic or sexual. Therefore, we conducted a national online survey to better understand the associations among internet use, sexual behavior, and adjustment called the Sexual Behaviors, Internet Use, and Psychological Adjustment Survey (SIPS). Here, we report patterns of sexual behavior in a sample of adults (N = 1987; ages 18-70) in the United States to establish its representativeness and consistency with similar recent surveys. We found age- and sex-related trends in oral, vaginal, and anal sex in terms of prevalence, frequency, number of partners, and age of initiation consistent with prior studies. We also detected differences in sexual behaviors based on relationship status and sexual orientation, but small and relatively few significant differences across racial and ethnic groups. The results confirm and expand upon trends identified in prior national surveys of sexual behavior, establishing the representativeness of the SIPS sample for use in future research examining the links among sexual behaviors and romantic relationships, internet use, and adjustment.
Highlights
The encroachment of the internet into everyday life has changed the way people form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships
These demographics were similar to those reported by the U.S Census Bureau for the United States population [24], with some minor differences due to the sampling procedure and exclusion of participants
While estimates of sexual orientation are not provided by the U.S Census Bureau, our sample characteristics were similar to those reported by several large studies assessing sexual minority groups [25, 26]
Summary
The encroachment of the internet into everyday life has changed the way people form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships. Dating apps (e.g., Tinder, Bumble, Hinge) and social media networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) welcome millions of users a day, yet the impacts of technology use on in-person relationships and sexual activity remains a relatively new area of study [1,2,3,4,5]. To better understand these novel associations and whether internet technology has altered patterns of coupling behavior, we conducted a national online survey called the Sexual Behaviors, Internet Use, and Psychological Adjustment Survey (SIPS), which assessed sexual behaviors, social media and dating app use, and several domains of adjustment including mental health, substance use, and interpersonal functioning. Demographic trends in sexual behavior can be accessed using the following link: https:// osf.io/g8phr/
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