The Sex Communication workshop : a novel educational intervention to shift sexual self-concept

This pilot study describes the theoretical underpinnings and impact of a novel educational intervention, the Sex Communication Workshop, drawing upon ideas about sexual self-concept, critical consciousness, cultural competency and humility, and adopting a sexological worldview. The intervention took the form of a 90-minute workshop facilitated by staff members and peer educators at a US university. The study aimed to assess the impact of the programme in affecting changes in sexual assertiveness, consciousness, and self-schemata, as measured by subscales of the Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire. Participants undertook a pre-test at the start of the workshop and a post-test immediately after. A sample of 558 undergraduate students, primarily in their second and third years, from a private midsized university in the northeast USA completed the programme. Statistically significant increases in sexual self-schema, t (557) = -7.25 p < .001, Cohen’s d = .62; sexual assertiveness, t (557) = -2.52, p = .012, Cohen’s d = .55; and sexual consciousness, t (557) = -6.90, p < .001, Cohen’s d = .57 were identified. Findings suggest that the workshop brought about shifts in sexual self-concept that may potentially improve sexual communication among college students, warranting further research.