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If You Build It, They Will Come: Feasibility of Sexual Health Research Among Individuals Married Within the Latter Day Saint Faith

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Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the feasibility of survey and interview research exploring views on sexual wellness among married individuals within the Latter Day Saint (LDS) faith community. Participants were asked questions about demographics, marital satisfaction, religious practice, sexual health and sexual satisfaction. Feasibility was measured by the expression of choice related to study participation: (1) electing to participate, (2) initiating participation, (3) selection of study engagement method, and (4) completion of each method. The sample included Utah residents married within the LDS faith, irrespective of whether currently practicing. Interested participants were given the option to volunteer through an anonymous online survey or interview. The majority (89.1) preferred to participate anonymously, and fully completed the online survey. Participants completed the full questionnaire despite being asked about “taboo” topics, such as with questions regarding sexual satisfaction. We concluded that it appears feasible to conduct sexual health research among individuals married within the LDS faith. This was the first empirical feasibility examination of sexual health studies among married Latter Day Saints. Future studies should continue to examine sexual health, while noting current church participation, and type of marriage, as this information seems to be essential when discussing sexual health with LDS married persons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Health Sciences Department, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 3640 E. Grandview Dr., Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA

    Heather Francis

  2. Applied Health Sciences Department, Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, 809 E. Ninth Street, Room 201, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Beth Meyerson

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  1. Heather Francis
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Correspondence to Heather Francis.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Francis, H., Meyerson, B. If You Build It, They Will Come: Feasibility of Sexual Health Research Among Individuals Married Within the Latter Day Saint Faith. Sexuality & Culture 21, 49–61 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9378-6

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