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Sexual Difficulties, Problems, and Help-Seeking in a National Representative Sample: The Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships

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Abstract

The Australian Study of Health and Relationships is a large national population-representative survey of sexual behavior and attitudes conducted every decade. We describe experiences of sexual difficulties lasting at least a month among Australians surveyed in 2012–2013 and identify changes since the previous survey in 2001–2002. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by 20,091 people aged 16–69 years (participation rate 66%) of whom 16,897 people had had sex with a partner in the previous year. We asked how long each difficulty lasted, whether it was a problem, and whether they sought treatment. Half (48%) the men and 68% of women reported at least one difficulty. Lack of interest in having sex was common (28% men, 52% women); 21% of men reported coming to orgasm “too quickly” and women reported inability to reach orgasm (25%) and trouble with vaginal dryness (22%). Women were more likely than men not to find sex pleasurable and to have physical pain during intercourse. Some differences by age group were also apparent. Many difficulties were not seen as problems, especially lacking interest and reaching orgasm too quickly. People with erection/dryness problems, or with pain in intercourse, were more likely to seek treatment, as were people with multiple difficulties. Between 2001–2002 and 2012–2013, there was little change for men, but among women rates of all sexual difficulties fell by 4–10 percentage points. This change accompanied a drop in frequency of sex among people in ongoing relationships and an increase in masturbation and use of pornography. One explanation might be that, over time, fewer women were agreeing to “service sex” when they were not in the mood. Overall, the drop in prevalence of women’s sexual difficulties since a decade earlier suggests a change towards more egalitarian sexual relations.

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Data and Code Availability

Data and codebook are available to relevant parties on request to the lead investigator of ASHR2, Professor Juliet Richters, j.richters@unsw.edu.au.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the late David Shellard and the staff of the Hunter Valley Research Foundation for managing sampling and data collection, and to the Social Research Centre for producing weights for the data. We also thank the men and women who took part in the study and so freely shared intimate aspects of their lives. We are grateful to Professor Andrew Grulich and Emerita Professor Judy Simpson for their contributions to ASHR2 as a whole, and especially to Professor Anthony Smith, who led ASHR1 and died during the course of ASHR2.

Funding

The Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships was funded by National Health and Medical Research Council project grant 1002174.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Juliet Richters

  2. MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Anna Yeung

  3. Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Chris Rissel & Kevin McGeechan

  4. College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Darwin, NT, Australia

    Chris Rissel

  5. Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Theresa Caruana

  6. Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer, UK

    Richard de Visser

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  1. Juliet Richters
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Contributions

JR, CR, and RdV contributed to the study conception and design. Data analysis was performed by AY with advice from JR, RdV, and KM. The first draft was written by JR with assistance from TC, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final article.

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Correspondence to Juliet Richters.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of La Trobe University (HEC 11–040) and ratified by the committees at the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney and the University of Sussex.

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Richters, J., Yeung, A., Rissel, C. et al. Sexual Difficulties, Problems, and Help-Seeking in a National Representative Sample: The Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships. Arch Sex Behav 51, 1435–1446 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02244-w

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