Preferred Name
Sureyya Sanchez
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4876-8537
Date of Graduation
5-9-2024
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of Graduate Psychology
Second Advisor
Bernice Marcopulos
Third Advisor
Melanie Shoup-Knox
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to discover if individuals taking oral contraceptives differed on measures of sleep and sexual behavior compared to those who are taking no form of birth control. Participants wore motion loggers every night for two-weeks, tracking their sleep, and filled out a questionnaire every morning inquiring about their sleep, sexual feelings, sexual behaviors, and affect from the day before. Research in this area of study is very sparse and results are conflicting, therefore I aimed to obtain comprehensive information to derive a basic understanding on if sexual behavior variables and sleep variables are in fact related and the extent to which oral contraceptive use impacts either. Results from an independent t-test analyses showed that oral contraceptive users had higher average sexual arousal, average genital lubrication, and average Female Sexual Functioning Index scores than non-users. The oral contraceptive users also demonstrated greater instances of sexual initiation and sexual intercourse than non-users, however, this finding is likely attributed to the discrepancies between groups regarding both partner availability and sexual activity status. Furthermore, average sleep duration was a significant predictor of average orgasmic function, explaining 29% of the total variance. When looking at scores not averaged, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scores were tested and showed to be a significant predictor of genital lubrication, explaining 13.5% of the total variance. Future directions should aim to examine a more diverse sample of participants to understand the potential influences of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and chronotype on the test variables.
