Sexuality is a main aspect to the experience of being human. The motivations for engaging in a sexual activity are various and psychologically complex. Indeed, sexual behaviour might be influenced by the sexual knowledge and attitudes that one holds. Jessica Mercieca carried out a study to explore the sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of students attending the University of Malta, as part of her degree in Bachelor of Psychology (Honours). This study was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Marilyn Clark. The target population was students between the ages of 18 and 29 studying at the University of Malta. The sample size was that of 418 students.
The study explored the knowledge of students regarding the sexual health services offered in Malta. When asked if they are aware of the free services offered for the testing and treatment of STIs, 35.9% responded that they are not aware of such services. This calls for better promotion of the sexual health services offered on our island. As for what features they desire to be included in these types of services, participants gave their first preference to having a friendly atmosphere and staff easy to talk to (31.7%) as well as free contraception (24.6%).
Contraceptive use was also explored. A large proportion (29.7%) of students stated that they are embarrassed to obtain contraceptives. This links with the desire of having free contraception given out. Furthermore, the majority (82%) of the participants did not agree that it is the women's responsibility to ensure regular contraception use, which could be the result of more gender equality.
Having said this, contraceptive use is used consistently by everyone. Indeed, when asked about what they would do if their partner refused to use condoms, 68.2% said that they would not accept to have a sexual relationship, 20.6% would still accept while 11.2% already do not use condoms. This might have several negative repercussions, like STIs and unintended pregnancies.
Participants were asked about their sources of information in relation to sexuality and sexual behaviour. Females (65.2%) were more likely than males (31%) to report that they have learnt about sex from their mother. In contrast, 34.5% of males said that their father informed them about sex, but only 10.9% of females reported this. This shows that parents tend to discuss sexual subjects with children of the same sex as theirs. Findings also show that participants wish to have learnt more about sex from their mothers (33%) and teachers (29.9%). As per resources used to learn about sexuality and sexual behaviour, 80.6% of the students reported that they used the internet.
In relation to the age of when they engaged in their first sexual activity, most (50.3%) participants reported being between 15-17 years, followed by 32.5% who were between 18-20 years and 11.2% who were less than 15 years. Those who engaged in a sexual activity after 20 years of age totalled 5.9%. This indicates that sex education in the early teens is essential in order to equip students with the right knowledge so as to be able to make the right choices regarding safe sex.
Participants' answers regarding why they engaged in a sexual activity for the first time vary according to gender. For males, the two most chosen reasons were being curious (63.6%) and feeling the right age (53.6%), while natural follow on in relationship (44.3%) and feeling the right age (43.9%) were the reasons that most females chose.
With regards to sexual behaviour, when asked if they have engaged in any sexual activity (oral sex, anal sex, intercourse, petting), more Maltese (19.9%) than foreigners (4.9%) said that they have not engaged in a sexual activity. In addition, a larger proportion of Maltese (59.2%) were in a committed relationship when they engaged in a sexual act for the first time. On the contrary, 8.6% of the other nationalities had no type of relationship with their first partner compared to 4.3% of the Maltese. These findings show that the Maltese are more conservative in their sexual behaviour than other nationalities which might be because of certain norms and values that we hold.
One of the findings shows a significant association between gender and familiarity of partner with whom one engaged for the first sexual activity. More males reported having just met the person (15.5%) or known them for a few weeks (25.5%). On the other hand, females reported knowing the person for a few months (56.5%) or years (17%). This difference can be attributed to the different gender specific behaviours passed on by culture and sexual scripts.
When asked about the number of their sexual partners, the majority (65.8%) stated that they had only one or two partners, 18.6% said they had three to five sexual partners while 15.6% reported that they had more than six. It resulted that there is an association between age of first sexual experience and the number of partners. Indeed, having six or more partners was reported the most by those who engaged in a sexual activity before being 15 years old. This decreased as the age of first sexual activity increased.
These results may point out to areas where improvements still need to be made so as to promote better sexual health. Through this research one hopes to bring about the right changes so as to provide others with adequate knowledge and attitudes in order to act safely while having sex.