Quality of Life and Stress: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Effects of Sexual Health

PURPOSE: Previous literature has observed the negative influence stress has on an individual’s health (American Psychological Association, 2015). Unlike stress, sexual activity is associated with improving an individual’s health and well-being. As such, sexual activity is considered to be an activity of daily living (ADL; American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014, p. S19). However, most of the public health education and research regarding sexual health has focused heavily on the negative consequences associated with sexual health, contributing to the stigma placed on expressing sexuality. Therefore, the current study aimed to contribute to the positive literature of expressing sexuality and to answer the following research question: In what ways and to what extent does sexual activity relate to an individual’s perceived stress level and overall quality of life?

METHOD: A cross-sectional design was chosen to determine if a relationship existed between sexual activity, stress, and quality of life (QOL). Forty-one female students participated in the study and met the inclusion criteria of being female, age 18 yr or older, and enrolled at a small women’s university in Western Massachusetts. Participants were recruited and offered a small incentive for participating at the student union at the university. Questionnaires included demographic questions, the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (Metson & Trapnell, 2005), the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), and the brief version of the World of Health Organization Quality of Life scale (World Health Organization, 1998). In the study, sexual activity was defined as any activity resulting in sexual satisfaction. Therefore, the frequency of sexual activity and the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women were used to measure the variable of sexual activity. The frequency of sexual activity was measured with the demographic questions as the number of times a participant engaged in sexual activity within the past month. Answers to the questionnaires were computed using IBM SPSS Statistics, in which a bivariate Pearson correlation test was analyzed to determine if a relationship existed between sexual activity, individual’s perceived stress levels, and QOL.

RESULTS: A statistically significant negative relationship was found between the frequency of sexual activity and perceived stress scores (n = 36, r = –.338, p = .044). As predicted, the relationship between sexual activity and QOL was positive; frequency of sexual activity was associated with a higher QOL score (n = 36, r = .376, p = .024). A strong negative correlation was found in perceived stress levels and QOL scores (n = 41, r = –.620, p < .001). Overall, the frequency of sexual activity was shown to have a negative relationship with perceived stress levels but a positive relationship with QOL. In the current study, as sexual frequency increased, an individual’s QOL increased or vice versa, potentially suggesting that engaging in sexual activity reduced an individual’s stress levels while improving an individual’s QOL.

CONCLUSION: The results of the study highlight the importance of managing stress levels to prevent a decrease in QOL. An individual should manage stress levels by using a variety of stress management techniques, sexual activity being one of many. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to the existing literature regarding the positive benefits of sexual activity. These findings have implications for occupational therapists to be open to discussing the ADL of sexual activity if it is meaningful to the client. Additional research regarding the positive aspects of sexual activity will enhance the existing knowledge of the physical and mental benefits of sexual activity.

References

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (3rd ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(Suppl. 1), S1–S48. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.682006

American Psychological Association. (2015). Stressed in America: Paying with our health. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2014/stress-report.pdf

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404

Meston, C., & Trapnell, P. (2005). Development and validation of a five-factor sexual satisfaction and distress scale for women: The Sexual Scale for Women (SSS–W). Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2(2), 66–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.20107.x

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