Research

Researchers at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, in collaboration with our academic and community partners, are involved in a broad range of sexual and reproductive health research, education, and professional training projects. To learn more about our work, visit our publications page and contact individual faculty and staff to learn more about their work. Below are some of the core areas within which our projects fall:

• Population-Level Sexual and Reproductive Health
• Adolescent and Young Adult Sexual Health and Behavior
• LGBTQ+ Health
• Sexuality and Disability
• Women's Sexual Health
• Men's Sexual Health
• Cultural Aspects of Sexual and Reproductive Health
• Sexual Violence and Consent
• Sexually Transmitted Infection and HIV
• Global Sexual Health

Population-Level Sexual and Reproductive Health

Public health policy, clinical guidance, and healthy relationship and sexuality education depend on having accurate, up-to-date information about people's sexual experiences, including abstinence, diverse sexual behaviors, as well as subjective experiences (e.g., (e.g., relationship/marital satisfaction; pain; arousal; desire; orgasm). These kinds of research data inform clinical practice as well as the development of programs that can help individuals, couples, and those looking to grow their families. CSHP faculty are among the few research teams globally to focus on leading nationally representative surveys focused on sexual health and behavior. Our data have been used by professionals throughout the world to inform their work. Below are examples of some of our large-scale population health studies:

• National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB; PI: Herbenick). The NSSHB began in 2009 and is one of the longest-running and most comprehensive studies of sexual behavior and experience ever conducted. When researchers from the Center for Sexual Health Promotion began the NSSHB in 2009, it was hailed as one of the most comprehensive studies on sexual behavior in nearly two decades. NSSHB findings have addressed important sexual and reproductive health issues including condom and contraceptive use; pregnancy intentions; sexual victimization; emerging sexual practices; knowledge of sexual transmission of Zika; sexual function; and much more. CSHP faculty have shared the NSSHB data widely with scholars and students around the world; we are currently working on making NSSHB data widely available to scientists around the world through a data repository. Please visit the NSSHB website to learn more about NSSHB publications and findings.
• National Survey of Sexual Wellbeing (NSSW). The NSSW was conducted in May and June 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides important insights on sexual health care experiences, sexual function, sexual behaviors, and the overall sexual wellbeing of U.S. adults. (PI: Herbenick).
• 2015 Sexual Exploration in America Survey. The 2015 SEAS (PI: Herbenick) was a US nationally representative survey that assessed Americans' engagement in a broad range of sexual practices as well as the extent to which they found such practices to be appealing or not.

Adolescent and Young Adult Sexual Health and Behavior

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consistently demonstrate that adolescents and young adults experience higher levels of risk for STIs and unintended pregnancy. CSHP faculty have led research that supports understandings of adolescent and young adult sexual behavior. We have also developed and tested educational programs and/or interventions to support healthy relationships, to reduce risk, and to support positive sexual health development. These projects include:

• Health Education and Interventions. As faculty working in higher education, we share a deep commitment to the wellbeing of our students and have led many studies involving adolescents and young adults, including some studies that use community-based participatory research methods. Findings from these studies have addressed healthy relationships in rural communities; sexual risk-taking and STI testing; pedagogical issues related to college-level human sexuality courses; as well as the evaluation of STI testing interventions on college campuses
• Campus Sexual Health Survey (CSHS). The CSHS (PI: Herbenick) is an ongoing campus-representative survey of sexual and reproductive health issues facing today’s college students. To date, five waves of data have been collected since 2015. Publications from the CSHS have addressed issues related to alcohol use and sexual consent; sexual pleasure; long-term relationships; emerging sexual practices such as rough sex and sexual choking; and the experiences of college student sex workers.
• Adolescent Health: CSHP faculty have led numerous studies related to adolescent health, including but not limited to adolescent sexual health, including studies involving homeless youth, homophobic name-calling victimization and psychological distress, adolescents’ experiences with emerging sexual practices, as well as digital interventions to improve adolescent sexual health.

Sexuality and Disability

An important part of promoting sexual health is understanding the factors that may hinder one's ability to live healthy, safe, and satisfying sexual lives. CSHP researchers have led important research related to the sexual health and wellbeing of persons with disabilities including research that examines access to appropriate sexual health support and education among individuals with spinal cord injury, autism, and intellectual disabilities.

LGBTQ+ Health

Health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other sexual and gender minority people exist across the lifespan, and are increasingly well-documented, but gaps remain in our basic understanding of how health status, behaviors and outcomes vary within these groups. Utilizing data from national and campus-probability surveys described above, CSHP researchers have published studies involving representative snapshots of diverse sexual behaviors, including rough sex, among LGBTQ+ individuals.

Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health

Women's sexual lives may be shaped by biological events (e.g., menopause, pregnancy, birthing) – all of which have sociocultural aspects to them. Throughout the world, girls and women are also disproportionately affected by sexual violence. Several CSHP faculty have focused their research on women's sexual health issues, including sexual pleasure, orgasm, painful intercourse, and trauma experiences.

Men's Sexual Health

Men comprise over half of those who are HIV infected worldwide and the majority of infections in women have been attributed to sexual activity with HIV positive men. Public health entities have called for more research on gender and HIV risk. Men's gender roles and norms may influence sexual behavior in numerous specific ways and contexts. Examples of research our team has published related to men's sexual health include understanding men's use and non-use of condoms, relations between men's sexual orientation and identity to their sexual and risk behaviors, sex toy use among MSM, PreEP knowledge and use, and innovative methods of reaching men with sexual health services (including testing and routine care).

Cultural Aspects of Sexual and Reproductive Health

Recognizing that people's sexual and reproductive health are shaped by culture as well as cultural forces, CSHP faculty and graduate students have led research related to Black women's sexual pleasure and orgasm; South Asian women's experiences with sexual pleasure and masturbation; Latinas' sexual and reproductive care-seeking in the Midwest; birthing experiences of women in the Andes; and sexual minority women in India.

Sexual Violence and Consent

Sexual health necessitates that sexual expression is free from coercion and violence. Several CSHP faculty have research programs that focus/have focused on understanding sexual consent and reducing sexual violence, both among college students and in national samples of adults.

Sexually Transmitted Infection and HIV

Many CSHP faculty have focused research efforts on better understanding individuals' experiences with sexually transmitted infections and HIV, including social and structural barriers and facilitators to prevention and treatment. Some faculty research has focused on Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT), the intersection between HIV and other health conditions, HIV prevention advocacy, PReP, and HPV vaccine promotion.

Global Sexual Health

Sexual health research, particularly given the nature of global sexual health concerns like maternal health, cervical cancer, COVID-19, and HIV/AIDS, requires us to be active global citizens and to facilitate the growth of scholars focused on sexual health in other nations. CSHP faculty have had strategic research partners and/or provided professional development and/or training in Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia.