Acceso usuarios
Gonzalo R Quintana Zunino
En Chile, la investigación acerca del sexo y la sexualidad es escasa. A nivel nacional, sólo hay un estudio impulsado por el gobierno de más de 20 años de antigüedad. Así, existe una necesidad de actualizar el conocimiento local a nivel poblacional, y expandirlo a nuevas temáticas actuales de interés aún no exploradas. Por ende, el objetivo de este estudio es explorar, describir, y actualizar el conocimiento sobre sexo y sexualidad de los chilenos y las chilenas. Una red de colaboradores/as pertenecientes a distintas universidades recolectó una muestra de chilenos y chilenas diversa en términos de su sexo, edad, región de procedencia, etc. El estudio incluye también la medición de una serie de variables relativas a diversos aspectos sexuales: preferencias sexuales, prácticas cotidianas sexuales, experiencias sexuales tempranas y negativas, placer y satisfacción sexual, uso de drogas durante el sexo, prácticas sexuales no normativas, uso de tecnologías y redes sociales sexuales, industria del entretenimiento adulto, educación y conocimiento sexuales, el efecto de la pandemia en el sexo, y la función sexual.
Dentro de las publicaciones a emanar de este proyecto se encuentra la validación de los cuestionarios de función sexual, así como la actualización de la validación del cuestionario de mujeres con técnicas estadísticas más sofisticadas. Por otro lado, las otras publicaciones tendrán un alcance no sólo regional, nacional, sino también internacional. Por lo tanto, el proyecto proveerá de una serie de publicaciones novedosas, supliendo la necesidad de conocimiento local nuevo y actualizado en relación a una temática pobremente estudiada y trabajada en Chile.
Research studies on sex and sexuality in Chile are few and far between. At the national level, there is only one government-sponsored study that is more than 20 years old.
Most of the few sex and sexuality studies have been conducted in the capital city, and revolved around topics of public health concern (e.g., sexual debut, undesired pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, condom use, and sexual risky behaviors, etc.). This has also led to ignore or given less emphasis to other central, current and positive aspects of sexuality such as sexual pleasure, the use of social networks, the sex industry, non-normative practices, fantasies, sexual dysfunctions, to name a few. Thus, there is a need to update local knowledge at the population level, as well as to expand it to new current topics of interest not yet explored. Therefore, the objective is to explore, describe, and update the knowledge of sex and sexuality of Chilean men and women. A network of collaborators belonging to different universities collected a sample of Chilean men and women, diverse in terms of their sex, age, region of origin, etc. The study was conducted during the pandemic, only, through self-report measures. The study was evaluated and approved by the ethics committee from the University of Tarapacá. The survey tools includes the measurement of a series of variables related to various sexual aspects: sexual preferences, daily sexual practices, early and negative sexual experiences, sexual pleasure and satisfaction, use of drugs during sex, non-normative sexual practices, use of technologies and sexual social networks, adult entertainment industry, sexual education and knowledge, and the effect of the pandemic on sex. Furthermore, the study included the psychometric instrument to sexual function (male, female, and both versions for sexual minorities). Since much of the current national sex research appears to be primarily limited to public health and predominantly concerned with the potential negative impact on our general health, this project will provide new and updated knowledge in several areas. These are poised to potentiate a research area that remains poorly exploited, but also transform the clinical practice with local and updated knowledge, that better represent the individuals of nowadays in Chile and their realities. Particularly, different aspects of this project will be able to inform and directly impact sexual education programs and policy, which remains until today a controversial topic, especially in secondary and high-school education. Furthermore, the project will likely also influence social change and awareness in different topics (e.g., gender diversity), and expand the conversation in topics related to sexual health and wellbeing (e.g., sexual pleasure). Among the publications to come out of this project is the validation of the sexual function questionnaires, as well as the updating of the validation of the women's questionnaire with more sophisticated statistical techniques.
On the other hand, the other publications will have a scope not only regional, national, but also international. The study uses a cross-sectional methodology with self-report measures and a non-probabilistic sample, which has an inherent methodological bias.
Likewise, the sample lacks representativeness in the south of Chile, limiting the generalization of the results to that part of the population. The study did not include data collection with adolescents, a sexually active population with a high value and importance. Finally, several of the measures will have an exploratory and descriptive scope, which limits the statistical power of some of the analyzes to make reliable inferences. Nevertheless, the project will provide a series of innovative publications, supplying the need for new and updated local knowledge related to a theme poorly studied and worked on in Chile.
