Let’s talk openly about sex: Sexual communication, self-esteem and efficacy as correlates of sexual well-being

Shawna Mastro, and Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Australia

Significant advances have been made toward understanding the factors that increase risk for early sexual onset, unprotected sexual behaviour, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents and young adults (for a review see Byers & Rehman, 2014). However, there has been relative neglect of the parallel research focus essential for defining and understanding thee e a

development of healthy sexuality (Fortenberry, 2014; Harden, 2014). To address this imbalance, there has been an enhanced interest in considering both the positive and negative aspects of youths’ sexual experience, such as sexual satisfaction and emotional responses (Zimmer-Gembeck, See, & O’Sullivan, 2015). Investigation of sexual-self perceptions has supported this effort. In particular, research on youth’s sexual subjectivity, which has been defined as including sexual body-esteem and perceptions of efficacy and entitlement to desire and pleasure, has aided in an understanding of well-being in this age group (Horne & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2006; Tolman, 2002).