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Changes in sexual behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the General Social Survey

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 37, pages 544–549 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had widespread implications on various aspects of life; however, there is a paucity of longitudinal data regarding its impact on sexual behavior. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in frequency of sexual activity and partner dynamics in the United States, we utilized data from the General Social Survey (GSS). This biannual survey of adults in the United States, provided responses from 12,791 participants, enabling a comparative analysis of sexual behaviors between pre-COVID-19 (2016 and 2018, n = 5215 respondents) and COVID-19 periods (2021 and 2022, n = 7576 respondents). Sexual behavior was evaluated using variables “sexfreq” (frequency of sexual encounters) and ‘partners’ (number of sexual partners). Overall, the percentage of respondents reporting more than one sexual partner in the last year decreased from 13.8% pre-pandemic to 9.8% during the pandemic (p = 0.002). The percentage of participants who reported engaging in sexual activity at least monthly decreased from 63.9% pre-pandemic to 58.9% during the pandemic (p = 0.02), and those reporting at least weekly sexual activity also decreased from 35.8% to 30.6% (p = 0.001). On sub-group analysis, men showed no change in the frequency of sexual activity compared to pre-pandemic levels; however, men engaged with fewer partners, with a decrease from 18.6% reporting more than one sexual partner to 11.7% (p = 0.001). Among women, specifically non-married women, there was a significant decrease in frequency of sexual encounters—from 49.2% to 40.5% for sex at least once a month (p = 0.006) and from 29.2% to 21.1% for sex at least once a week (p = 0.001). Non-married women also showed a decrease in the number of sexual partners from 58.7% to 50.6% (p = 0.01) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed sexual behaviors and partner choices, leading to fewer sexual partners and less frequent sexual activity, particularly in non-married women.

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Data availability

Data used in this study can be requested on the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

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Funding

Supported by NIH grants R01DK130991 and UE5 DK13730 to RR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    David A. Velasquez, Alexandra Aponte Varnum & Ranjith Ramasamy

  2. Department of Surgery, Section of Urology, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    David A. Velasquez, Senthooran Kalidoss & Omer Raheem

  3. Department of Urology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Daniel R. Greenberg

  4. NORC at the University of Chicago, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Abigail Norling-Ruggles

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Kyara M. Marquez

  6. University of Illinois - Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Melanie A. Izquierdo

  7. Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Aaron Gurayah

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  1. David A. Velasquez
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Contributions

All authors approved the submitted manuscript. DAV: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, drafting of manuscript. DRG: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, drafting of manuscript. ANR: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data. KMM: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. AAV: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. SK: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. MAI: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. AG: contributed to acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. OR: contributed to conception and design, acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript. RR: contributed to conception and design, acquisition, analysis or interpretation, critical review of manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to David A. Velasquez or Ranjith Ramasamy.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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This study utilized data from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and was exempt from formal Institutional Review Board approval, with no consent required from participants. The study adhered to ethical principles in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All authors listed have seen and approved this manuscript and contributed significantly to the work.

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Velasquez, D.A., Greenberg, D.R., Norling-Ruggles, A. et al. Changes in sexual behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the General Social Survey. Int J Impot Res 37, 544–549 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-024-00983-7

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