Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention To Enhance Sexual Assertiveness In Women Who Exhibit Premarital Sexual Compliance In The Greater Jakarta Area, Indonesia

Premarital sexual compliance is common among women and is influenced by gender role socialization. Sexual assertiveness reduces the likelihood of engaging in sexual compliance. This study examined the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral intervention in enhancing sexual assertiveness in women who exhibited sexual compliance. This was a quasi-experimental study conducted with a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. Each group consisted of five participants recruited through purposive sampling. Participants in the intervention group participated in five individual sessions, preceded by a pre-session and followed by a follow-up session. The participants in the control group were given a psychoeducation book to read and had no face-to-face sessions. Analysis was conducted through the comparison of quantitative data measured by the Indonesian version of the Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire for Women (SAQ-W) scale. Participants' changes in cognition and behavior before and after the intervention were also observed. It was found that cognitive-behavioral intervention successfully enhanced sexual assertiveness in women who exhibited sexual compliance. Participants in the intervention group were able to identify what they wanted and did not want in sexual situations, modify maladaptive thoughts leading to unassertive behaviors, and apply behavioral techniques to facilitate the occurrence of assertive behavior in sexual contexts.