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Sexual Well-Being Among College Students: A Qualitative Study

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Abstract

The current study is a community-based research project identifying ways to better define and support sexual well-being of college students on campus. The data explore how students self-define their own sexual well-being, how it relates to access of the institution’s health and counseling services, as well as how it relates to physiological, emotional, relational, and social factors. From in-depth individual interviews, the study compares individual students’ varying perspectives of their own sexual well-being situated within the campus community. Results from thematic analysis show that definitions of sexual well-being are multifaceted—ranging from sex positive, behavioral, mental and emotional, social identity-related, relational, and related to campus resources. Our findings can be used to inform sexual health education and services offered to college students.

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Correspondence to Corey E. Flanders.

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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.

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Bedree, H., Moller-Mullen, M., Rose, E. et al. Sexual Well-Being Among College Students: A Qualitative Study. Sexuality & Culture 24, 140–156 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09631-5

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