Previous Sexual Experience Research Articles

5 Years Retrospective Study of Child Sexual Abuse at Dr. M. Djamil Hospital Padang Indonesia

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to analyze the profile of child sexual abuse cases. Methods. The research design was a cross-sectional analytic method. Data were obtained from medical records of child sexual abuse at Dr. M. Djamil Hospital Padang from 2012 to 2016. The sample was 114 medical records of child sexual abuse. Results. The highest incident was in the year of 2015 (28.9%). The highest age range of the victims was 11-18 years old (66.7%). Most victims were junior high school students (27.2%). The highest incident was rape (38.6%). Many of the victims were assaulted by 1 perpetrator (85.1%). An intact hymen was found in 20.2% cases and the highest non-intact hymen was old complete laceration (27.2%), The highest external genitalia examination result was no injuries (69.3%). Most of the victims had previous sexual experience (31.6%). The most commonplace of sexual abuse was the perpetrator's house (21.9%). The boyfriend was the highest rank of the sexual perpetrator (27.1%). There was a significant relationship between child sexual abuse category and status of the hymen (p=0.00). Conclusion. Child sexual abuse categorized as molestation, rape and consent sex, while rape was the highest incident of child sexual abuse. There were various hymen lacerations had found in the victims of child sexual abuse.

Previous sexual experience does not improve estrous behavior and ovulatory activity in seasonally anestrous goats in contact with photo-stimulated bucks

Sexually inexperienced ewes display lower estrous behavior during the first contact with rams. The objective of this study was to determine whether sexually inexperienced anestrous females display estrous behavior and ovulatory activity as the sexually experienced females, and with restricted sexual experience exposed to photo-stimulated bucks. Six bucks were rendered sexually active during the non-breeding season by exposure to artificially long days (16 h of light and 8 h of darkness per day) for 2.5 months. The first group, sexually experienced females (n = 10) had physical contact with two vasectomized bucks, and mating was allowed; the second group, with restricted sexual experience (n = 10) had contact with two vasectomized bucks through a wire-mesh fence and mating was prevented; the third group, sexually inexperienced females (n = 9) was totally isolated from bucks. At 14-month-old the females were exposed to photo-stimulated bucks for 15 days. The proportion of females that displayed estrous behavior, ovulations, short and normal ovulatory cycles, and pregnancy rates did not differ between sexually experienced, with restricted sexual experience, and sexually inexperienced (P > 0.05, in all variables). Similarly, the ovulation rate did not differ between the three groups of females (P > 0.05). However, the interval from introduction of the bucks to the first estrus was shorter in sexually inexperienced females (P < 0.05). Therefore, sexually inexperienced anestrous females displayed estrous behavior, ovulation, and pregnancy rate similar to those displayed by sexually experienced and with restricted sexual experience when exposed to photo-stimulated bucks through the male effect.

Prevalence of Gonorrhea and Associated Knowledge, Attitude and Risky Behaviors and Preventive Practices Among High School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted infection that affects the health of people globally. Millions of new gonorrhea cases are reported every year in people aged 15 to 49years. Particularly adolescents are vulnerable due to high sexual desire and unsafe sexual practices. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of gonorrhea and the associated knowledge, attitude and risky behaviors and preventive practice of high school students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 410 students from grade 11 and 12 of Medhane-alem preparatory school using self-administered questionnaires. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 22.0 software. Chi-square test and odds ratio were done at 95% CI using significance level of p < 0.05. The prevalence of gonorrhea among the students was 5.4%. Only 40% of participants were knowledgeable on gonorrhea transmission and less than 50% of them had positive perception towards gonorrhea infected people. Over 55% of the students had no sexual history but the rest had previous sexual experience and were exposed, at least, to one risky behavior. Logistic regression analysis revealed that higher acceptable sexual practice was observed among students with good knowledge than students with poor knowledge (AOR = 2.12, 95% CI 1.42-3.18, p < 0.001). Overall, higher prevalence rate and low knowledge level was observed among the study group. Negative attitudes and unsafe sexual practices were reported by the students. Sexual health education and prevention are necessary among the high school students.

Sexual violence victimisation among university students in Italy: a gendered intersectional quantitative approach

There is rising attention in Italy and Europe to the occurrence, consequences, and factors related to sexual violence. The focus on women as the primary victims of sexual violence has, however, left data collection and research on young men and sexual minorities in the background. Moreover, young people’s experiences of sexual abuse in the context of their relationships with peers are hardly recognised as a policy concern. The ultimate aim of this paper is to disentangle intersectionalities between gender, migration background, sexual orientation, and sexual experience in shaping the risk of experiencing sexual violence among university students in Italy.We use data from the Sexual and Emotional LiFe of Youths (SELFY) survey carried out in Italy in 2017. Our data confirm that women and foreign-born students are at higher risk of sexual violence. Our data also support previous evidence that bisexual women are at a higher risk of sexual violence victimisation compared with peer students with other sexual orientations. Previous same-sex sexual experience is more relevant than sexual orientation in shaping the risk. The effect is gendered: the risk of sexual violence is lower for women with previous same-sex sexual experience compared with their male peers. The intersection between gender, sexual orientation, and same-sex sexual experience generate specific high-risk profiles whose needs should be targeted by support services.

How "dirty" is the Dark Triad? Dark character profiles, swearing, and sociosexuality.

Malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) are associated to emotional frigidity, antagonism, immoral strategic thinking, betrayal, exploitation, and sexual promiscuity. Despite the fact that character is a complex adaptive system, almost every study has solely investigated the linear association between malevolent character and attitudes towards both swearing and sociosexual orientation (i.e., behavior, attitude, and desire regarding promiscuous sexual behavior). In contrast, the aim in this set of studies was to evaluate these associations in relation to specific profiles of malevolent character (i.e., the Dark Cube). In two studies participants responded to the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, the Taboo Words’ Offensiveness and Usage Inventories (i.e., attitudes towards 30 swear words’ level of offensiveness and usage) (Study 1: N1 = 1,000) and the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory Revised (Study 2: N2 = 309). Participants were clustered according to all eight possible combinations based on their dark trait scores (M/m = high/low Machiavellianism; N/n = high/low narcissism; P/p = high/low psychopathy). The results of this nonlinear approach suggested that the frequent usage, not level of offensiveness, of swear words was associated to Machiavellianism and narcissism. In other words, individuals with high levels in these traits might swear and are verbally offensive often, because they do not see swearing as offensive (cf. with the attitude-behavior-cognition-hypothesis of taboo words; Rosenberg, Sikström & Garcia, 2017). Moreover, promiscuous sociosexual attitude and desire were related to each dark trait only when the other two were low. Additionally, promiscuous sociosexual behavior was not associated to these malevolent character traits. That is, individuals high in the dark traits are willing to and have the desire to engage in sexual relations without closeness, commitment, and other indicators of emotional bonding. However, they do not report high levels of previous sexual experience, relationships, and infidelity. Hence, they approve and desire for it, but they are not actually doing it. The use of person-centered and non-linear methods, such as the Dark Character Cube, seem helpful in the advancement of a coherent theory of a biopsychosocial model of dark character.

Do Male University Students Know Enough About Human Papillomavirus (HPV) to Make Informed Decisions About Vaccination?

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV), knowledge of HPV-associated diseases, as well as willingness to undergo HPV vaccination among male university students in China, especially factors influencing vaccination willingness.Material/MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among university students in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, China by using a convenience sampling method. We assessed a) the awareness of HPV, b) knowledge of HPV-associated diseases, c) willingness to undergo HPV vaccination, and d) sexual behaviors among male university students.ResultsA total of 1274 male university students aged 16 to 26 years old were recruited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. In total, 39.6% of students had awareness of HPV. Among students who were aware of HPV, the percentage of participating students who knew that HPV causes cervical cancer, genital warts, penile cancer, anal cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer were 94.0%, 66.1%, 32.7%, 20.4%, and 18.7%, respectively. In total, 79.0% knew that men can acquire HPV; 38.7% were willing to receive HPV vaccination. Age, region, and major were related to the awareness of HPV. In addition, students who had previous sexual experiences had more knowledge about HPV and were more likely to express willingness to vaccinate.ConclusionsMale university students do not know enough about HPV infection, and males’ attitudes regarding vaccination are not sufficient. Education should be provided to promote awareness of HPV-associated diseases and vaccination.

Development of a novel measure of women's sexual self-schema organization✰

Sexual self-schemas are cognitive representations of the sexual self and are associated with multiple aspects of women's sexuality, although no work has considered their organization (i.e., interconnectedness of networks of information pertaining to the self). In an online pilot study (N = 193), we investigated the validity of a novel method for assessing the organization of women's sexual self-schemas. In a modified psychological distance scaling task, participants positioned adjectives individually on a grid in terms of both self-descriptiveness and valence. We found evidence of convergent validity: women with denser (i.e., more closely interrelated) positive sexual self-schemas had more pleasurable sexual experiences in the past, more positive sexual attitudes, and better sexual functioning; women with denser negative sexual self-schemas reported fewer previous partners and sexual experiences and less sexual excitation. Density scores predicted women's sexual functioning and sexual excitation, beyond one-dimensional schema valence scores. Along with future work, this task may offer a useful tool for capturing individual differences in the organization of women's sexual self-schemas.

Testicular Parameters and its Influence in Buffaloes (Bubalus buballis) Sexual Behaviour

Background: Brazil is one of the greatest bovine meat exporter in the world. However, the technologies applied at buffalo’s reproduction is not specific for this specie, adapted technics were established from the cattle breed. When the animal shows weight gain, gonadal and behavioral physiology fallow this tendency and the reproductive status become good and satisfactory. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the reproduction characteristics of male buffaloes and its testicular parameters with sexual behavior.Materials, Methods &amp; Results: Seven males Murrah breed with 67.29 ± 11.4 months of age were maintained at confinement for artificial shading. The testicular parameter was performed in restraint trunk and the sexual behavior evaluation was done with an estrus female. The sexual behavior was performed with an estrous female as a dummy. The testicular biometry was measured at the beginning and at the end of the experimental design, with the follow parameters: length, width, depth/thickness, scrotal circumference and the total volume. The data were submitted to the analysis of variance, and the means was compared with the Student-Newman-Keuls test, with significance difference P &lt; 0.05 between the medians. The differences in the parameters were scrotal circumference (23.36 cm vs 24.86 cm), testicular length (8.71 cm vs 9.77 cm), right testicular width (8.57 cm vs 9.53 cm) and testicular volume (1.627.40 cm3 vs 2.149,68 cm3), respectively. The sexual behavior showed an increase in the Flehmen reflex, mounts (service capacity) and libido (2.00 vs 11.71; 0.57 vs 5.43; regular behavior vs very good behavior, respectively).Discussion: An increase in the testicular circumference was observed at the end of the experimental period with the values between 23.36 cm vs 24.86 cm. However, even with this increase of the testicular parameters it is lower than other male buffaloes with 36 months age. In Brazilian conditions, the testicular circumference variation is between 24.5 cm and 34 cm in animals with 60 months of age. These data shows that there are variations of the testicular parameters due to different systems of buffaloes breeding. When compared to cattle, buffaloes shows lower input of reproductive biotechnology. At the same way, the testicular growth and development depends of the nutrition and management used at the farm. In an inefficient system, buffaloes and bovine breeding could lose weight, testicular mass, and reduce testicular parameters. Besides that, the buffaloes can perform an improvement of a general condition when improvement of nutrition care occurs. The testicular parameters presents high correlation with the corporal and testicular development, which can be correlate to age and weight. Those parameters could help with the reproductive ability of the buffalo. The sexual behavior was increased and observed in the Flehmen reflex, service capacity and libido after the animal’s adaptation to the reproductive management. The buffaloes are animals extremely adaptable to different conditions, but need a period to adapt. Previous sexual experience is important during the social organization of the harem and helps in the practice of the sexual act. In these experimental conditions, we conclude that is necessary a social and behavior adaptation to the buffalo bull to present a better value of sexual characteristics to improve the fertility and production of Murrah buffaloes.

Influence of demodex mites on life quality of patients with acne and rosacea

Background: Ulcus vulvae acutum, also known as Lipschutz ulcer, is a rare condition characterized by multiple, painful, and acute genital ulceration in young women without venereal infections, associated with systemic symptoms like malaise, fever, and inguinal lymphadenopathy. Case Illustration: A 24-year-old woman developed multiple and painful vulvar ulcers that recurred for almost a year. The patient was primarily diagnosed and treated as genital herpes in several hospitals with only slight improvement and no complete healing. The patient came to our hospital for examinations to rule out sexually-transmitted infection (STI) (genital herpes, syphilis, HIV, and chancroid) and possibility of Behcet’s. The patient was treated with a combination of 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine creams for 1 week, 2% fusidic acid ointment for 1 week, with no significant progression. Later, the therapy was changed to 0.05% clobetasol propionate ointment for 10 days. Complete healing occurred in about 10 weeks with no scarring. Discussion: Diagnosis of ulcus vulvae acutum in this patient was made by excluding other differential diagnoses. Conclusion: Ulcus vulvae acutum is a difficult diagnosis, and clinician should be aware of this entity especially when encountering young woman without previous sexual experience problem with ulcer. Keywords: ulcus vulvae acutum, genital ulcer, young women

Ulcus vulvae acutum - A rare case

Background: Ulcus vulvae acutum, also known as Lipschutz ulcer, is a rare condition characterized by multiple, painful, and acute genital ulceration in young women without venereal infections, associated with systemic symptoms like malaise, fever, and inguinal lymphadenopathy. Case Illustration: A 24-year-old woman developed multiple and painful vulvar ulcers that recurred for almost a year. The patient was primarily diagnosed and treated as genital herpes in several hospitals with only slight improvement and no complete healing. The patient came to our hospital for examinations to rule out sexually-transmitted infection (STI) (genital herpes, syphilis, HIV, and chancroid) and possibility of Behcet’s. The patient was treated with a combination of 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine creams for 1 week, 2% fusidic acid ointment for 1 week, with no significant progression. Later, the therapy was changed to 0.05% clobetasol propionate ointment for 10 days. Complete healing occurred in about 10 weeks with no scarring. Discussion: Diagnosis of ulcus vulvae acutum in this patient was made by excluding other differential diagnoses. Conclusion: Ulcus vulvae acutum is a difficult diagnosis, and clinician should be aware of this entity especially when encountering young woman without previous sexual experience problem with ulcer. Keywords: ulcus vulvae acutum, genital ulcer, young women

Prevalence and risk factors for sexual assault among class 6 female students in unplanned settlements of Nairobi, Kenya: Baseline analysis from the IMPower & Sources of Strength cluster randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundGender-based violence (GBV) is a crucial global health problem among all age groups, including adolescents. This study describes incidences of GBV, as well as factors associated with sexual assault, among female adolescents in class six living in urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.MethodsStudy participants were interviewed using a structured survey instrument focusing on experiences of GBV, including emotional, physical, and sexual violence, and corresponding perpetrators, as well as gender attitudes, alcohol use, self-efficacy, and previous sexual experiences. Summary statistics and clustered bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated for social behaviors and violence rates. Stepwise logistic regression identified variables associated with an adolescent’s experience of sexual assault.FindingsIn this population 7·2% of adolescent girls reported being raped in the prior twelve months, with 11·1% of these rape victims reporting over five experiences. Among the 21·3% who report having had a boyfriend, 38·1% reported emotional, physical, and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Boyfriends were identified most often as perpetrators, accounting for 46·3% of reported lifetime rapes. Previous experience of physical (p = <0·001) or emotional (p<0·001) IPV and home violence (p<0·001) were risk factors for being raped, while high self-efficacy (p<0·001) was a protective factor.InterpretationSexual assault and GBV are major challenges in this highly-disadvantaged population. Novel prevention efforts are needed for this age group, as prevention is often targeted at older adolescents. Prevention efforts should focus on assaults by perpetrators known to adolescents, especially boyfriends, and may need to account for the adolescents’ previous experience of, and exposure to, violence.

023 The Language of Sexual Violence: Undergraduates' Understanding of Sexual Violence Labels and the Role of Previous Sexual Experiences

Many individuals who experience nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSEs) do not identify their experiences with common sexual violence labels (e.g., sexual assault, sexual abuse, rape). Such experiences, however, meet both operational and legal definitions, and policies, protocols, and educational prevention efforts have been implemented based on these labels. Front line response organizations such as “sexual assault” crisis centers also use these labels in their titles and in their outreach initiatives. 1. To gain insights into how undergraduate students who have and have not experienced NSEs define and construe common sexual violence labels. 2. To examine how these definitions vary as a function of NSE history and NSE identification. A total of 593 undergraduates (NSE identifiers n = 87; NSE non-identifiers n = 171; no NSEs n = 335) completed an online assessment of NSE histories and then responded to open-ended questions about how they define the labels sexual assault, sexual abuse, and rape. Quantitative text analysis procedures were applied to the participants’ open-ended responses to derive word counts and themes for each of the separate labels. Between-group comparisons were conducted to assess for group differences in label definitions.

Investigation of Factors that Induce Premarital Sexual Intercourse Among Adolescents in Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Adolescence is a period of life that is characterized by dramatic changes in biological processes in physical and social contexts. The period can be demanding and challenging because adolescents are pre-occupied with self- identity, self-image and acceptability in the society as well as selfawareness since the action to be taken is a big part of person’s life in the future particularly on whether or not to engage in premarital sexual intercourse. This study investigated factors that induce adolescents to engage in premarital sexual intercourse among secondary school students in Nigeria. The study was guided by three research questions and one hypothesis and adopted survey research design. Multistage sampling technique was used to sample 600 students from all the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. One instrument with reliability coefficient of 0.79 was used for data collection. Descriptive and Inferential statistics was used to analyze the data collected. Finding shows that previous sexual abuse experience (75%) was the most potent factor that induces premarital sexual intercourse and four of the of the independent variables showed significant contribution to the dependent variable: previous sexual abuse experience (β = .290, p<.05), smoking of prohibited drugs (β = -.345, p<.05), peer influence (β = .225, p<.05), poor housing condition (β = .126, p<.05). It was recommended that adolescents should avoid engaging in premarital sexual intercourse and reduce curiosity about sex.

The Role of Learning on Insect and Spider Sexual Behaviors, Sexual Trait Evolution, and Speciation

We review experimental and theoretical evidence that learning in insects and spiders affects the expression of mate preferences and of sexual signals, the evolution of both traits, and ultimately patterns of assortative mating and speciation. Both males and females can modify their sexual preferences and signaling based on previous social interactions or the experience of visual, olfactory, gustatory, or auditory signals. Learning takes place during an early life exposure, previous personal sexual experiences or by observing the choices of others, and it can occur sometimes via very short (a few seconds) exposures to individuals or signals. We briefly review some of the molecular mechanisms that mediate learning in insects, as well as theoretical work that assesses how learning impacts the evolution of insect sexual traits and speciation. We suggest that future research should attempt to provide evidence of the adaptive nature of learning, which remains scarce in insects as well as in vertebrates, and explore further the mechanisms of learning in order to probe into their possible transgenerational inheritance. Future studies should also model how this process might further affect the evolution of sexual traits, and provide a unifying terminology for the underlying mechanisms of learning across diverse life-history contexts.

Capturing sexual contact patterns in modelling the spread of sexually transmitted infections: Evidence using Natsal-3.

BackgroundUnderstanding the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a population is of great importance to the planning and delivery of health services globally. The worldwide rise of HIV since the 1980’s, and the recent increase in common STIs (including HPV and Chlamydia) in many countries, means that there is an urgent need to understand transmission dynamics in order to better predict the spread of such infections in the population. Unlike many other infections which can be captured by assumptions of random mixing, STI transmission is intimately linked to the number and pattern of sexual contacts. In fact, it is the huge variation in the number of new sexual partners that gives rise to the extremes of risk within populations which need to be captured in predictive models of STI transmission. Such models are vital in providing the necessary scientific evidence to determine whether a range of controls (from education to screening to vaccination) are cost-effective.Method and resultsWe use probability sample survey data from Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) to determine robust distributions for the rate of new partnerships that involve condomless sex and can therefore facilitate the spread of STIs. Different distributions are defined depending on four individual-level characteristics: age, sex, sexual orientation, and previous sexual experience. As individual behaviour patterns can change (e.g. by remaining in a monogamous relationship for a long period) we allow risk-percentiles to be randomly redrawn, to capture longer term behaviour as measured by Natsal-3. We demonstrate how this model formulation interacts with the transmission of infection by constructing an individual-based SIS-P (Susceptible—Infected—Susceptible—Protected) transmission model for the spread of a generic STI, and observing overall population demographics when varying the transmission probability within a partnership, recovery rate and the level of population protection (e.g. from vaccination where applicable).

Examining HPV Awareness, Sexual Behavior, and Intent to Receive the HPV Vaccine Among Racial/Ethnic Male College Students 18-27 years.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) awareness and vaccination among males in the general population is low. Men in general, but particularly racial/ethnic men, are disproportionately affected by HPV. The purpose of this article is to examine college males’ (a) HPV awareness, (b) sexual behaviors, and (c) intention to receive the HPV vaccination. A non-probability sample of all students who self-reported their race/ethnicity and were attending a university in Southeastern United States were contacted by the university registrar’s office and recruited to participate in the 15-minute survey. Males, ages 18–27 years (N = 190), were identified for this study. χ2, t-tests, and binomial logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between knowing about HPV and HPV vaccine and the intent to receive the HPV vaccination. Findings indicated that 67.4% of the sample identified as Hispanic or Black. Among all men, 73.2% reported previous sexual experience and 49.5% were currently sexually active. There were 79.5% who had previous knowledge about HPV and 55.8% had knowledge about the HPV vaccine; 71.1% of the sample did not intend to receive the vaccine. Hispanic and Black men were less likely to identify as virgins, more likely to be sexually active, and more likely to have sexual experiences at an earlier age compared to White, Asian, and other men. Men with previous HPV vaccine knowledge (28.4%) were more likely to intend to receive the vaccine compared to men who did not have previous knowledge about the vaccine (14.9%). Providing males with information about HPV, its transmission, and possible HPV-related outcomes may increase HPV vaccine uptake.

Binge drinking and associated factors among school students: a cross-sectional study in Zhejiang Province, China

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence and correlating factors of binge drinking among middle and high school students in Zhejiang Province, China.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study using data from a school-based survey....

Sequential mate choice in the South American fruit fly: the role of male nutrition, female size and host availability on female remating behaviour

After mating, female sexual receptivity usually decreases and returns, depending on various factors, one of which can be the quality of the first or second male. Here, we tested in the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus if female remating is conditioned by the quality of the second male, when females encounter sequential mates (under no-choice conditions) and when females have the opportunity to choose between well-nourished and malnourished males, both for mating and for remating. Additionally, we tested if other factors such as female size and the opportunity to oviposit influenced females’ remating propensity. We found that females remate more often when they encounter a male of good nutritional condition, under both choice and no-choice conditions, and when females had access to a host to oviposit. Other traits of the sequential mate, such as male mating status (virgin or mated), male density (one or three males) and female size, had no effect on female remating behaviour. Plasticity in female post-copulatory mating under both choice and no-choice conditions indicates that A. fraterculus females are able to discriminate between males with different nutritional qualities without needing to compare them directly. Females were more choosy when remating, probably as a result of previous sexual experience, yet it remains to be seen which cues females use to distinguish between males. We discuss our results in the context of female pre- and post-copulatory mating decisions.

Knowledge and attitudes about abortion among undergraduate students

This study examined attitudes towards and knowledge about abortion among undergraduate students doing eleven different subjects. The differences in attitudes and knowledge about abortion according to gender, religious and political affiliation, religiosity, sexual orientation, number of sex partners and previous sexual experience were also considered. 1,025 undergraduate students (58.34% women and 41.66% men; mean age 20.18) completed the following instruments: an adaptation of the Abortion Attitudes Scale by Hill, and an adaptation of Abortion Knowledge Test by Esposito and Basow. With attitudes ranging from 0 to 100, medicine, psychology and nursing students were in the anti-abortion range (55.93, 54.19 and 53.62, respectively) while history, philology and physics students were in the pro-abortion rights range (48.44, 48.49 and 50.12, respectively). Law, medicine and nursing students showed greater theoretical knowledge about abortion, while physics, engineering and philology students proved to be the least knowledgeable. Differences were found in students&rsquo; attitudes towards abortion and in knowledge about abortion depending on their degree subject. As in previous reports, differences were found in students&acute; attitudes towards abortion which reflected differences in religious affiliation, religiosity, political affiliation, and previous sexual experience.

Autism-spectrum disorders in adolescence and adulthood: focus on sexuality.

The combination of the core symptoms, characterizing individuals with autism-spectrum disorder (ASD), can lead to problems in romantic relationships and sexual functioning. The purpose of this article is to review studies on sexuality in individuals with ASD published since January 2016. Individuals with ASD and especially women show a higher diversity in sexual orientation in comparison with the non-ASD population. Furthermore, ASD women are more frequently in a relationship and usually report more previous sexual experiences. Up to now, sexual education programs specifically addressing the needs of the ASD population were scarce, which was criticized by patients, their parents, and caregivers. With the development of the Tackling Teenage Training program, a psychoeducational intervention designed specifically for ASD individuals was introduced, leading to significant improvements in psychosexual functioning and knowledge. Such programs are needed because a considerable rate of problematic sexual behaviors, including public masturbation and paraphilic sexual interests were found in the ASD population. Just like their typically developing counterparts, individuals with ASD show the whole range of normal-to-problematic sexual behaviors. Improving sexual knowledge could lead to less inappropriate sexual behaviors and could improve sexual health as part of a healthy and satisfying life.