The Australian Study of Health and Relationships was the first national representative-sample sex survey to ask respondents about involvement in BDSM, defined as ‘B&D or S&M, that’s bondage and discipline, sadomasochism, or dominance and submission’. In 2001–02, a total of 19,307 respondents aged 16–59 were interviewed by telephone, of whom 2.0% of men and 1.4% of women said they had been involved in BDSM in the previous year. Here we address demographic, psychosocial and sexual correlates of BDSM activity. Engagement in BDSM was more common among gay/lesbian and bisexual people.
Among women, it was more likely among those who had a regular partner they did not live with and among women under 20 and least likely among those over 50. Among men, it was not significantly related to age or relationship status. People who had engaged in BDSM were more likely to have experienced oral and anal sex, to have had more than one partner in the past year, to have had sex with someone other than their regular partner, and to have: taken part in phone sex, visited an internet sex site, viewed an X-rated (pornographic) film or video, used a sex toy, had group sex, or taken part in manual stimulation of the anus, fisting or rimming. However, they were no more likely to have been coerced into sexual activity, and were not significantly more likely to be unhappy or anxious — indeed men who had engaged in BDSM scored significantly better on a scale of psychological wellbeing than other men. Engagement in BDSM was not significantly related to any sexual difficulties. Our findings support the idea that BDSM is simply a sexual interest attractive to a minority, not a pathological symptom of past abuse or difficulty with ‘normal’ sex.
Conflict of Interest: None disclosed
Financial Support/Funding: Data Collection Was Funded By A Direct Grant From The Australian Government Department Of Health And Ageing
Recorded in Sydney Australia, April 2007
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