Study Links Casual Sex Among College Students to Anxiety and Depression

A new study published in The journal of Sex Research finds that college students who engage in casual sex have higher levels of general anxiety, social anxiety and depression.

The researchers define 'casual sex' as having intercourse with a partner one has known for a week only. This study 'Entitled Risky Business: Is There an Association between Casual Sex and Mental Health among Emerging Adults?' was led by Dr. Melina M. Bersamin of California State University, Sacramento.

The researchers examined 3,900 heterosexual college students from 30 different institutions around the United States, making this one of the largest sample to be collected on this topic. The students completed an online survey about their casual sex behavior and mental well being. Out of the total number of students completing the survey, 11 percent reported indulging in casual sex during the month prior to the survey and a majority of them were men.

 "It is premature to conclude that casual sexual encounters pose no harmful psychological risks for young adults." The results "suggest that among heterosexual college students, casual sex was negatively associated with well-being and positively associated with psychological distress."

Apart from this, the researchers also investigated the role of gender in determining mental distress associated with casual sex.

Studies conducted earlier have shown that compared to men, women respond more negatively to casual sex. The researchers say that men indulge in more sexual activity with greater number of partners when compared to women. But the new study does not find any association between gender and the psychological outcomes.

Next, the researchers plan to determine whether casual sex causes psychological distress or whether the existing mental health problems force young adults to engage in riskier activities.