Background How people manage multiple sexual relationships may influence their sexual health. People in consensually non-monogamous relationships purportedly take personal responsibility to protect their sexual health and then trust new partners who do similarly. Infidelity (i.e., breaking an agreed-upon relationship norm, such as regular STI testing or using condoms with new partners) or lack of consent may therefore worsen sexual health and functioning because partners do not have accurate, mutual knowledge of the sexual health practices of their full sexual network. Methods We examined sexual health in monogamous, consensually non-monogamous, and non-consensually non-monogamous (i.e., infidelity) relationships in a multinational online sample (Study 1; N=888), and Finnish population-based data (Study 2; N=10,504) using self-report measures of sexual risk-taking, frequency of STI testing, frequency of STI diagnosis, sexual functioning (i.e., the FSFI, MSHQ, CHEES, and SDI-2), and frequency of infidelity. Results In Study 1, women with multiple partners reported greater desire and satisfaction with non-primary than primary partners, and greater arousal with non-primary partners compared to monogamous women. Polyamorous individuals were more likely to have ever been tested for, but not diagnosed with, sexually transmitted infections. In Study 2, non-monogamous men reported fewer early ejaculatory symptoms, non-monogamous women reported higher sexual desire, and non-monogamous men and women reported greater dyadic desire compared to monogamous participants. Across both studies, sexual functioning was overall similar between monogamous and non-monogamous participants, and self-reported infidelity was not associated with sexual health. Conclusions We suggest that having multiple partners, whether consensual or not, does not necessarily compromise sexual health but may improve sexual functioning, particularly for women.

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consensual non-monogamy,polyamory,swinging,multiple relationships,infidelity,sexual health,sexual functioning