Body image and risky sexual behaviors: an investigation in a tri-ethnic sample

The impact of negative body image on risky sexual behaviors has not been extensively investigated. The present study examined the relationship between two aspects of body image, appearance shame and appearance investment, and potentially risky behaviors. The study employed a tri-ethnic sample of 1547 women seeking services at two family planning clinics. Logistic regression was utilized to examine the relationship between potential risk behaviors and shame and investment. Results supported that these aspects of body image were significant predictors of inconsistent condom use, having multiple sex partners in the past year, and having sex after drinking alcohol or using drugs, and that demographic variables (e.g., age, marital status, ethnicity) could not fully account for these relationships. The importance of future research investigating the relationships among body image, perceived relationship security, affect-management strategies, and risky sexual behaviors is emphasized.     

A Qualitative Study of the Supports Women Find Most Beneficial When Dealing with a Spouse’s Sexually Addictive or Compulsive Behaviors: Insights for Pastoral Counselors and Clergy

There is currently a void in the literature regarding the kinds of support women find most beneficial when dealing with a spouse’s sexually addictive or compulsive behaviors. Addressing this void is particularly relevant for clergy, seeing as they are increasingly sought out as an initial and/or primary support for dealing with this marital issue. Using grounded theory methodology, 22 women from Canada and the USA were interviewed to find out what they found most helpful as they sought support to cope with a spouse’s sexually addictive and compulsive behaviors. Insights for pastoral counselors and clergy were highlighted.     

Cognitive-behavioral Strategies for Parkinson’s Disease: A Report of Three Cases

Three patients diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) were treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): a 43-year-old woman suffering from depression and social anxiety, a 45-year-old man with sexual problems and maladaptive coping strategies, and a 78-year-old man with freezing of gait. On the basis of functional analyses, interventions were selected, including cognitive methods, social skills training, paradoxical instructions and strategies to improve management of freezing. The interventions were related to improved adaptation to motor impairments and better ability to cope with the disease. These case presentations suggest that CBT can improve quality of life in PD by modifying maladaptive cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions to the disease and its symptoms.     

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for women with lifelong vaginismus: process and prognostic factors

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) seems an effective treatment of lifelong vaginismus, but mechanisms of action have not yet been established. The present study explored whether the effect of CBT for lifelong vaginismus is mediated by changes in fear of penetration and avoidance behavior, which CBT explicitly aims to alter. A second aim of this study was to predict treatment outcome on the basis of pre-treatment variables. Participants with lifelong vaginismus were allocated at random to a 3-months CBT (n=81) or a waiting-list control condition (n=36). Full vaginal penetration with the penis of the partner constituted the primary outcome measure. Change scores in successful 'non-coital penetrative-behavior' and 'fear of coitus' were used to measure the mediating variables. Treatment resulted in an increase of intercourse (outcome), a decrease in fear of coitus, and an enhancement of successful non-coital penetration behavior, compared with no treatment. Outcome (intercourse) was partly mediated by changes in fear of coitus and changes in avoidance behavior. No treatment predictors could be detected in this study sample. It is concluded that techniques such as gradual exposure, aimed at decreasing avoidance behavior and penetration fear, constitute an important avenue of change in the treatment of lifelong vaginismus.     

Women’s Close Friendships across Sexual Orientation: A Comparative Analysis of Lesbian-Heterosexual and Bisexual-Heterosexual Women’s Friendships

Interviews were conducted in close friendship pairs with women who ranged in age from 18 to 52 years at the time of interview. Results suggest that women of different sexual orientation identities had different friendship profiles. Comparisons across friendship type suggest that bisexual-heterosexual friends consistently experienced a shift in friendship dynamic based on the sex of partner for the bisexual friend and were more likely than lesbian-heterosexual friends to integrate their friendship into their social lives. Lesbian-heterosexual friendships were significantly more likely to include an explicit acknowledgment of non-heterosexual identity. Although cross-orientation friendships did not consistently include a feminist/political dimension, when friends also differed in racial identity a feminist/political dimension in the friendship became apparent. In cross-race friendships racial minority identities were explicitly acknowledged even when non-heterosexual identities were not.     

SEXUAL ABERRATION OR INSTINCTUAL VICISSITUDE? REVISITING FREUD'S “THE SEXUAL ABERRATIONS”

The author reconsiders Freud's “The Sexual Aberrations,” the first of his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), in light of contemporary psychoanalytic theory. Are the concepts of sexual aberration and norm still viable? The author argues that they are necessary but insufficient elements in current theory. He then presents a competing model in which sexuality can be reduced to a more elemental level of disturbance and wish, where it is an expression of a nonsexual wish—for example, to possess or control the object to eliminate separateness. The author presents clinical material to demonstrate this alternative model.     

Aspects of impulsivity are differentially associated with risky sexual behaviors

Risky sexual behavior (RSB) greatly increases the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as well as a host of other negative outcomes. Recent advances in personality research have defined multiple and separate dispositions to engagement in impulsive behaviors, including RSB. Little is known concerning the ways in which aspects of impulsivity place individuals at risk for various types of RSB. The purpose of the current study, therefore, was to further clarify the unique ways in which aspects of impulsivity were differentially associated with various forms of RSB within a large, diverse sample of university students ages 18-to-24 years (N = 917). Results suggest low self-control confers a general risk while a tendency toward impulsive behavior in the context of intense emotion confers a more specific risk as for various types of RSB. The current study confirms the importance of focusing on both various pathways to impulsive behaviors as well as specific types of RSB.     

Self-objectification,body self-consciousness during sexual activities,and sexual satisfaction in college women

Few studies examine the mechanisms that link body image to sexual satisfaction in women. Using the tenets of objectification theory, this study investigated the relationships between body surveillance, body shame, body self-consciousness during sexual activities, and sexual satisfaction in an ethnically diverse sample of American female college students (N = 368), while controlling for relationship status and body mass index. Results based on self-report measures of these constructs suggested that body shame and body self-consciousness during sexual activity were negatively correlated with sexual satisfaction. Additionally, path analysis indicated that body surveillance predicted increased body self-consciousness during sexual activity, partially mediated by body shame. Body self-consciousness, in turn, predicted decreased sexual satisfaction. Overall, study findings highlight the negative consequences of body image concerns for women's sexual satisfaction.     

Conceptualizing and measuring perceptions of sexual attractiveness: Are there differences across gender and sexual orientation?

There is no consistent conceptualization of sexual attractiveness in the literature. The present paper reviews previous literature on sexual attractiveness, examining the different terms used to refer to sexual attractiveness, as well as the measures designed to evaluate perceptions of sexual attractiveness. A new measure of self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is proposed and psychometrically tested based on this material. The review of the literature demonstrates that there are multiple, often ambiguous, terms used in relation to sexual attractiveness, with few definitions provided. Additionally, there is no standardized measure of perceptions of sexual attractiveness. Single item measures are commonly used to assess an individual’s perceptions of their own or of another’s sexual attractiveness, and few studies provide a psychometric evaluation of the measures used. A clearer picture of sexual attractiveness is formed in this paper and, with this, a new scale measuring self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is developed. The new scale is a valid and reliable measure of self-perceived sexual attractiveness that may be used among men and women who identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Furthermore, the findings suggest that sexual attractiveness may be conceptualized similarly across gender and sexual orientation.     

The relationship between anti-gay prejudice and the categorization of sexual orientation

A relatively large literature has demonstrated that sexual orientation can be judged accurately from a variety of minimal cues, including facial appearance. Untested in this work, however, is the influence that individual differences in prejudice against gays and lesbians may exert upon perceivers’ judgments. Here, we report the results of a meta-analysis of 23 unpublished studies testing the relationship between anti-gay bias and the categorization of sexual orientation from faces. Aggregating data from multiple measures of bias using a variety of methods in three different countries over a period of 8 years, we found a small but significant negative relationship between accuracy and prejudice that was homogeneous across the samples tested. Thus, individuals reporting higher levels of anti-gay bias appear to be less accurate judges of sexual orientation.