Knowledge and Attitudes toward Sexual Health and Common Sexual Practices among College Students - A Survey from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Indian society is considered to have conservative attitudes regarding sex and is ambivalent about the concept of sex education. Previous reports suggest that a considerable proportion of Indian youth have inadequate sexual knowledge and hold a variety of sexual misconceptions. Methodological flaws limit the generalizability of some earlier studies. AIMS: This study assessed knowledge and attitude toward sexual health and common sexual practices among college students in Tamil Nadu. METHODOLOGY: A total of 952 students from seven randomly selected colleges in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu participated in the survey. The survey questionnaire contained 51 questions on knowledge and attitude toward sexual health and common sexual practices and incorporated items from standardized questionnaires and additional questions suggested by a multidisciplinary group who work in the field. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-five students among those who completed the survey were women. Higher knowledge scores were associated with older age, male gender, being from a rural background, pursuing non-science streams, and being in postgraduate courses. Nonconservative attitudes were associated with older age, male gender, enrollment in non-science disciplines, discomfort with the family environment, and a religious family background. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual knowledge is inadequate and sexual misconceptions were widely prevalent in the population studied. School-based comprehensive sex education programs, which have been demonstrated to be effective in improving sexual health, could be used to deal with these lacunae in sexual health knowledge and attitudes.
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These sexual activity figures are much lower compared to previous Indian and international studies on a similar population.
“These figures are much lower compared to what authors found in previous Indian and international studies done on a similar population.61,62”
From Mental Health, Suicidality, Health, and Social Indicators Among College Students Across Nine States in India (2025) · cites this paper as [62]
The Discussion’s “Sexual behavior” section (page unavailable) says masturbation was reported by one-third of respondents, versus around 80% in previous reports, supporting a lower figure for that practice. It does not establish that sexual activity figures generally were much lower in comparable Indian and international studies; the same section says some other sexual behaviors were slightly higher than previously reported. (LLM, conf=0.81)
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- Authors
- Mukherjee, A., Gopalakrishnan, R., Thangadurai, P., Kuruvilla, A., & Jacob, K. S.
- Affiliations
- Christian Medical College, Vellore (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Thangadurai, Packirisamy
- Venue
- Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-07
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 348-356
- ISSN
- 0253-7176 (ISSN-L)
- 0975-1564
- PMC
- PMC6657487
- OpenAlex
- W2959441625
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 4.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Keywords
- sexual health knowledge, sexual attitudes, sexual practices, university students, sex education, gender differences, urban-rural differences, family environment, religious background
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