Sex and Mental Health on the Campus

There is general agreement that sexual attitudes and sexual practices in American society are undergoing radical changes. I propose to examine the extent of these changes and to describe their impact upon the mental health of university students. My approach while hopefully not moralistic will not be free of value judgments. Like most psychiatrists I consider mental health to be something more than mere adjustment to the needs of the community. Mental health is defined according to certain values, values such as psychological comfort, intimacy, compassion, social responsibility, and self-knowledge. Once the psychiatrist begins to ask if a given sexual behavior is good or bad for a person's mental health he is no longer in a position to avoid making ethical judgments. How much change has there been in sexual attitudes and behaviors among university students? Recent surveys suggest that there have been important changes in students' attitudes toward premarital