Sexual Self-Efficacy and Associated Factors: A Review

Sexual self-efficacy (SSE) is a key concept in sexual behavior and sexual health. The overall purpose of this research was to review of the factors related to the sexual self-efficacy.

An extensive literature search was performed using PubMed, Web of Science, Social Science Research Network, CINAHL, Psych INFO, Magiran, Iran Medex, Iran Doc, SID and Google Scholar. This review study was conducted according to the PRISMA checklist. Eligible studies were identified from English and Persian databases, published between 1990 and 2018. Studies were screened independently by two researchers who performed the data extraction.

Of 128 studies identified, 25 studies met our inclusion criteria. Factors related to SSE were summarized into 4 groups: sociodemographic factors (e.g. age, race, socioeconomic status, parental support, social support, religious obligations, negotiation skills, addicts, working hours, history of delivery, physical problem), marital status factors (e.g., failure in marriage, marital satisfaction, marital quality, marriage duration, intimacy), sexual history factors (e.g. sexual self-concept, sexual experience, confidence in sexual relationships, sexual activity, sexual self-schema, sexual adjustment, childhood sexual abuse, sexual disorders, sexual risk cognition, experiences of abuse or violence, partner’s belief, experiences of sex-therapy training), psychological factors (e.g. obsession, psychosis, anxiety, depression, paranoia, phobia, individual sensitivity, aggression).

With regards to the important role of SSE in sexual health, deeper perception factors related to SSE are needed. More comprehension of these agents can acquaint targeted approaches in order to improve SSE and reduce the sexual problems.