Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships
Abstract Objective To describe selected characteristics of Australian adults' regular or ongoing sexual relationships. Method Computer‐assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16–59 years. The overall response rate was 73.1% (69....
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2003-04-01
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| Series: | Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00799.x |
| _version_ | 1797709287512866816 |
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| author | Chris E. Rissel Juliet Richters Andrew E. Grulich Richard O. deVisser Anthony M.A. Smith |
| author_facet | Chris E. Rissel Juliet Richters Andrew E. Grulich Richard O. deVisser Anthony M.A. Smith |
| author_sort | Chris E. Rissel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective To describe selected characteristics of Australian adults' regular or ongoing sexual relationships. Method Computer‐assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16–59 years. The overall response rate was 73.1% (69.4% men, 77.6% women). Respondents indicated how often they had sex in the past four weeks, contraceptive use, their own and their partners' expectations about having sex with other people during their relationship, whether they had discussed these expectations with their partners and whether they had an explicit agreement about sex with other people. Results : 85.3% of men and 89.5% of women were in a regular heterosexual relationship, among whom 81.4% of men and 89.3% of women reported contraceptive use. Men and women who had a regular partner for the past 12 months had had sex with their partners an average of 1.84 times per week in the four weeks before interview; younger people had sex more often. Most respondents expected themselves and their partners to not have sex with other people, although men were less likely than women to have discussed these expectations with their partner. Bisexually identified men and women were significantly less likely than heterosexually identified men and women to support having sex only with their regular partner. Only 4.9% of men and 2.9% of women in regular heterosexual relationships had concurrent sexual partners in the past 12 months. Conclusion Australians' attitudes to not having sex with people while in a regular relationship are highly consistent with their behaviour. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:35:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a05bd55467d34a53a15f07a9ead81581 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1326-0200 1753-6405 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:35:17Z |
| publishDate | 2003-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-a05bd55467d34a53a15f07a9ead815812023-09-03T01:22:28ZengElsevierAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health1326-02001753-64052003-04-0127212413010.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00799.xSex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationshipsChris E. Rissel0Juliet Richters1Andrew E. Grulich2Richard O. deVisser3Anthony M.A. Smith4Health Promotion Unit, Central Sydney Area Health Service, and Australian Centre for Health Promotion, University of Sydney, New South WalesNational Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South WalesNational Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South WalesAustralian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, VictoriaAustralian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, VictoriaAbstract Objective To describe selected characteristics of Australian adults' regular or ongoing sexual relationships. Method Computer‐assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16–59 years. The overall response rate was 73.1% (69.4% men, 77.6% women). Respondents indicated how often they had sex in the past four weeks, contraceptive use, their own and their partners' expectations about having sex with other people during their relationship, whether they had discussed these expectations with their partners and whether they had an explicit agreement about sex with other people. Results : 85.3% of men and 89.5% of women were in a regular heterosexual relationship, among whom 81.4% of men and 89.3% of women reported contraceptive use. Men and women who had a regular partner for the past 12 months had had sex with their partners an average of 1.84 times per week in the four weeks before interview; younger people had sex more often. Most respondents expected themselves and their partners to not have sex with other people, although men were less likely than women to have discussed these expectations with their partner. Bisexually identified men and women were significantly less likely than heterosexually identified men and women to support having sex only with their regular partner. Only 4.9% of men and 2.9% of women in regular heterosexual relationships had concurrent sexual partners in the past 12 months. Conclusion Australians' attitudes to not having sex with people while in a regular relationship are highly consistent with their behaviour.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00799.x |
| spellingShingle | Chris E. Rissel Juliet Richters Andrew E. Grulich Richard O. deVisser Anthony M.A. Smith Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| title | Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| title_full | Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| title_fullStr | Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| title_short | Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| title_sort | sex in australia selected characteristics of regular sexual relationships |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00799.x |
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