COVID-19 and Its Impact on Intimate Relationships

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted people’s daily lives globally, including their sexual activities. The present studies explored changes in sexual behaviours, and related sexual health, during the COVID-19 pandemic across 18 countries. The Behavioural Immune System was used a guiding framework for these studies, while additional factors that may also impact sexual behaviours were incorporated. Study 1 examined changes in condom use in early 2020, during the initial lockdown in Sydney, Australia, finding a broad decline in condom use, particularly pronounced among single people. Study 2 expanded on these findings by examining changes in condom use at a latter timepoint in Sydney, Australia, and in 17 other countries. Results revealed a significant decline in Australia, and 5 other countries, and these declines were not differentiated by relationship status. Moreover, the strength of the declines across countries was significantly associated with lockdown stringency and vaccination uptake, but not historical prevalence of disease. Study 3 examined changes in a broader range of sexual behaviours – specifically, frequency of sexual intercourse, sexting, masturbation, and pornography use. Significant declines were observed across all behaviours – the only exceptions were increases in sexting in the UK and Spain. Changes in sexting and solitary behaviours were predicted by historical prevalence of disease, whereas intercourse frequency was predicted lockdown stringency. Taken together, these findings reinforce the evidence for a pervasive impact of disease threat on sexual behaviours, but also highlight how newly emergent pandemic-related factors can also play a significant role.