Sex Life Of Half Of Spanish Population Changed During Lockdown

The Salusex team, led by Universitat Jaume I professor Rafael Ballester and dedicated to the study of human sexuality since 1993, has recently published in prestigious journalSexuality Research and Social Policy the results of the INSIDE Project. This project analyses the impact that the lockdown derived from the COVID-19 pandemic had on the sexual life of the Spanish population.

The study, carried out by Rafael Ballester together with the researcher Juan Enrique Nebot and other members of the Salusex group, was conducted during the months in which the lockdown was as its strictest in Spain, between March and May 2020. In this sense, it should be noted that this is the first research carried out in Spain and the second in the world to assess the impact on sexuality not only of the pandemic in general, but also of the lockdown imposed because of it.

The INSIDE Project involved a sample of 1,448 people aged between 18 and 60 and with all kinds of sexual orientations and couple situations. All of them were issued an online survey asking about a wide range of aspects of sexuality.

Overall, the study found that for about half of the Spanish population (52%) their sex life changed during confinement, negatively for 38% and positively for only 14%. The key variables that seem to differentiate one from the other are having lived in lockdown as a couple, stress levels during those months and being able to have a minimum level of intimacy.