Young adult sexual health: Masturbation behaviors among para-medical trainees

Abstract

Abstract Background: Students’ life is a very exciting phase of life fraught with many challenges in sex and sexuality. Understanding masturbation is important in maintaining a positive attitude toward sex and sexuality. Materials and Methods: It is a descriptive study conducted among 150 bachelors of nursing students from three different nursing colleges in Bengaluru city, Karnataka. The sociodemographic data, semi-structured questionnaire, and the attitudes toward masturbation scale were used for data collection. Results: Masturbation is more common among male students than among female students. 45% of males reported that after masturbation they felt relaxed, whereas 41% of females were ashamed of their masturbation. Most nursing students view sex as an important aspect of life and masturbation as a natural practice of human sexuality. Conclusion: Health professionals have a distinct role to play in society in spreading healthy sexual behaviors.