de Graaf, H. et al. (2023) Sex surveys in Europe: reflections on over four decades of sexual behavior and sexual health surveillance. Journal of Sex Research, 60(7), pp. 1020-1033. (doi: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2222403) (PMID:37339272)
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Abstract
Sexual expression is fundamental to human existence and an important topic of enquiry in its own right. Understanding sexual behavior is also essential to establish effective sexual health prevention activities (e.g., education), services and policies, and to assess the progress of policies and action plans. Questions on sexual health are rarely included in general health surveys, and therefore dedicated population studies are required. Many countries lack both funding and sociopolitical support to conduct such surveys. A tradition of periodic population sexual health surveys exists in Europe but the methods used (e.g., in questionnaire construction, recruiting methods or interview format) vary from one survey to another. This is because the researchers within each country are confronted with conceptual, methodological, sociocultural and budgetary challenges, for which they find different solutions. These differences limit comparison across countries and pooling of estimates, but the variation in approaches provides a rich source of learning on population survey research. In this review, survey leads from 11 European countries discuss how their surveys evolved during the past four decades in response to sociohistorical and political context, and the challenges they encountered. The review discusses the solutions they identified and shows that it is possible to create well designed surveys which collect high quality data on a range of aspects of sexual health, despite the sensitivity of the topic. Herewith, we hope to support the research community in their perennial quest for political support and funding, and ongoing drive to advance methodology in future national sex surveys.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding: This work has been supported by the European Sexual Medicine Network (ESMN) project (COST Action CA18124). KM is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/3) and Chief Scientist Office for Scotland (SPHSU18), KK by Czech Science Foundation project GACR (n. 21-31490S), MFL by EMERGIA program of the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades de la Junta de Andalucía, grant EMERGIA20_00285, and PB by a grant from the German Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA). |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Mitchell, Professor Kirstin |
| Authors: | de Graaf, H., Mitchell, K., Clifton, S., Lara, M. F., Dewaele, A., Dupont, J., Klapilova, K., Lazdāne, G., Briken, P., Træen, B., Bajos, N., Ljungcrantz, D., and Kontula, O. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU |
| Journal Name: | Journal of Sex Research |
| Publisher: | Taylor and Francis |
| ISSN: | 0022-4499 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1559-8519 |
| Published Online: | 20 June 2023 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2023 The Author(s) |
| First Published: | First published in Journal of Sex Research 60(7): 1020-1033 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons license |
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