Aging and sexuality

Many see old age as asexual but studies show that significant numbers of people 65 years old and older continue to desire and engage in acts of sexual intimacy as seem in long‐term care facilities and in cohabitation. Sexual ethics in the context of aging requires respect for the sexuality of older adults and sensitivity to their needs and challenges.     

LGBTQ+ Addiction Research: An Analysis of the Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling

Articles published in the Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling (JAOC) from 1980 to 2018 were examined to see how LGBTQ+ issues are represented. This study also investigated whether sexual orientation and gender identity were reported in empirical studies in JAOC.     

Attachment Change in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and Sexual Satisfaction Outcomes in a Two-year Follow-up Study

Emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT) is an empirically validated attachment based approach to couple therapy. From an EFT perspective, sexual functioning is viewed within the context of an attachment bond, but sexual satisfaction in EFT has not been empirically tested. We examined self-reported sexual satisfaction across 24?months in a sample of 32 couples who received an average of 21 EFT sessions. We found that sexual satisfaction increased across six time points from pre to post therapy and across follow-up (6, 12, 18, and 24?months), and that decreases in attachment avoidance from pre to post therapy predicted increases in sexual satisfaction across time. These findings provide evidence that EFT may help couples improve their sexual satisfaction by reducing attachment avoidance in therapy.     

Ethical and Regulatory Considerations for Using Social Media Platforms to Locate and Track Research Participants

As social media becomes increasingly popular, human subjects researchers are able to use these platforms to locate, track, and communicate with study participants, thereby increasing participant retention and the generalizability and validity of research. The use of social media; however, raises novel ethical and regulatory issues that have received limited attention in the literature and federal regulations. We review research ethics and regulations and outline the implications for maintaining participant privacy, respecting participant autonomy, and promoting researcher transparency when using social media to locate and track participants. We offer a rubric that can be used in future studies to determine ethical and regulation-consistent use of social media platforms and illustrate the rubric using our study team’s experience with Facebook. We also offer recommendations for both researchers and institutional review boards that emphasize the importance of well-described procedures for social media use as part of informed consent.     

自我客体化影响认知表现的研究现状

自我客体化的女性会内化他人的评价,把自己当做物品一样来定义和评价自我,并习惯性地对自己的身体以及外貌进行监测,从而导致身体羞耻、焦虑、“心流”体验的减少及身体内部感知的迟钝,并进一步造成更多的不良后果。以往的研究多关注于自我客体化在女性心理健康上造成的影响,很少有研究关注于自我客体户对认知表现的影响。本文梳理了自我客体户与认知表现的相关研究,以及自我客体户对认知表现可能的作用机制。未来研究需要从多方面来丰富自我客体化的操纵方式,通过实验的方式来检验自我客体化对认知表现的作用机制,以及考察不同的认知表现,并关注自我客体化对认知表现的累积效应。     

Hidden reality: sexual sphere in brain tumor patients

Most reports emphasize that tumors and their treatments affect sexual function. To date, no studies have focused on sexual functioning in patients with brain tumors. Our study’s objective is to describe the sexual sphere of patients with brain tumors and examine the possible differences between patients who reported sexual dysfunctions and those who did not with respect to their psychological and functional status. We tested 46 patients with brain tumors. We used an ad hoc questionnaire to assess patients’ subjective perception of their own sexual sphere. To assess patients’ psychological status, we used the following questionnaires: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Psychological Distress Inventory; EORTC QLQ-C30; EORTC QLQ-BN20. Fifty-eight percent of patients reported sexual disturbance. Our data showed that a lack of or decrease in sexual desire is the most common sexual problem reported by our patients (56%). Patients with sexual problems reported higher levels of anxiety and depression and a worse self-reported quality of life (QoL) than did those who did not perceive adverse changes in their sexual sphere. In addition, we found that patients with a better performance status (KPS) reported more changes in sexual behaviors than did those who had performance difficulties. Of the patients, 15.2% received information regarding possible changes in the sexual sphere by physicians. Additionally, 10.8 of 15.2% of the patients reported having explicitly requested information from physicians. The study demonstrated a relation between QoL and sexual function. Therefore, it would be important to encourage clinicians to ask questions regarding patients’ sexual issues, thus providing them with an opportunity to expose their difficulties and receive adequate support.     

Therapeutic response to Cognitive Processing Therapy in White and Black female veterans with military sexual trauma-related PTSD

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based treatment (EBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which has been validated for female veterans with military-related PTSD. Existing trials have enrolled predominantly White veterans with some studies documenting higher rates of early termination from EBTs among Black females when compared to White females. Data from a previously published randomized clinical trial were used to evaluate the effectiveness of CPT for Black female veterans with military sexual trauma (MST)-related PTSD. Reductions in PTSD symptom severity, number of sessions attended, and early termination rates were compared between Black (n = 20) and White (n = 16) female veterans. A hierarchical linear modeling approach was used, with PTSD symptom severity over the course of treatment and follow-up entered as a level-1 variable and race (Black or White) entered as a level-2 predictor. Piecewise growth curves analyses revealed that both Black and White female veterans experienced significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity over the course of treatment and gains were maintained up to 6 months post-treatment. Race was not found to be a significant predictor of change in the slope of PTSD symptom severity over the course of CPT treatment. Additionally, number of sessions attended and rates of early termination did not significantly differ based on race. Results suggest that CPT was a well-tolerated and effective psychotherapeutic treatment for this sample regardless of racial self-identification.     

Relationships between gender self-esteem,sexual prejudice,and trans prejudice in cisgender heterosexual college students

Our understanding of sexual prejudice, or prejudice against gay men, lesbian women, bisexual people, and other sexual minorities, has improved substantially over the last few decades. Less is known about the factors that predict trans prejudice, or prejudice against trans people. Using the framework of social identity theory, we examined the relationship between gender self-esteem, sexual prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women, and trans prejudice in a sample of 391 self-identified cisgender heterosexual students from a Midwestern university in the United States. Compared to women, men reported more sexual prejudice, trans prejudice, more prejudice toward gay men than lesbian women, and more violence toward, teasing of, and discomfort around trans women than trans men. Whereas both men and women reported more teasing of trans women than of trans men, men reported more discomfort around trans women and women reported more discomfort around trans men. Gender self-esteem significantly predicted sexual prejudice and trans prejudice in men but not women. Consistent with other research, our results indicate that men's sexual prejudice and trans prejudice may be motivated by similar factors, whereas the predictors of women's prejudice may be more specific to the type of prejudice.     

Spanish version of the Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women: Factorial structure,reliability and validity evidences

Background/Objective: The Dual Control Model suggests that sexual excitation and associated behaviors are the result of the balance between relatively independent excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms. Based on this theoretical model, the Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women (SESII-W) was developed to evaluate excitation and inhibition dimensions in women. The aim was to adapt and validate the SESII-W in the Spanish population. Method: A sample of 1,380 heterosexual women (aged 18 to 52) completed the Spanish SESII-W, together with other related instruments. After the translation and adaptation of the SESII-W, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed. Results: CFA resulted in a version consisting of 33 items divided into eight sub-factors, which were grouped into two higher-order factors (Sexual Excitation and Sexual Inhibition). The sub-factors demonstrated adequate internal consistency values except for Sexual Power Dynamics and Concerns about Sexual Function. Test-retest reliabilities were good. Their scores correlated with erotophilia, sexual sensation seeking, age at first intercourse, and number of sexual partners in the expected direction. Conclusions: The Spanish version of SESII-W has adequate psychometric guarantees for use in clinical practice and research, although it would be necessary to further revise factors that showed a lower level of reliability.