Evaluating the Acceptability of Four Versions of a Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program

Fifty-nine college students used a modified version of the Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form to evaluate the acceptability of four versions of a sexual abuse prevention program for 10-year-old children. The four versions include an information-based training approach or a behavioral skills training (BST) approach with a focus on strangers or known individuals as perpetrators of sexual abuse. A significant effect was found for both training method and type of perpetrator, with information-based approaches involving strangers as perpetrators rated the most acceptable. These results suggest that college students were most comfortable with sexual abuse prevention training programs for 10-year-olds when the programs did not involve an active rehearsal component and when the program focused on abuse perpetrated by a stranger rather than a known individual.     

Childhood Sexual Assault,Quality of Life,and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Veterans With Military and Civilian Sexual Trauma

Veterans with military sexual trauma (MST) are at risk for a variety of psychiatric conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Survivors of MST are also likely to experience diminished quality of life (QoL). Individuals with higher lifetime incidence of sexual trauma may also be at increased risk for poorer outcomes in QoL and psychiatric symptomatology. The differences in psychological sequelae among those who have experienced sexual trauma as children, and those whose sexual trauma exposure is limited to adulthood are relatively understudied. The majority of sexual trauma literature has focused primarily on civilian trauma, and comparatively few studies have specifically examined psychosocial sequelae (e.g., QoL) in veterans with MST. This study examined how childhood sexual abuse (CSA) affects overall QoL as well as severity of PTSD and depressive symptoms. Veterans who reported CSA had significantly greater depression symptom severity than veterans who did not. No significant differences in PTSD symptom severity or QoL were found between veterans who did and did not report CSA. Results highlight the need for further examination of the relationship between CSA and depression in veterans with MST-related PTSD who also report CSA.     

Relationship problems and extradyadic romantic and sexual activity in a web‐sample of Norwegian men and women

The purpose of this paper is to describe the prevalence of self‐reported types of extradyadic romantic and sexual activity among adult Norwegians and to explore the role of infidelity in breaking up a permanent relationship. The results are based on 1,001 web interviews with persons ranging in age from 18 to 67 years. The majority of respondents reported having engaged in some kind of extradyadic romantic and/or sexual activity. Forty‐five percent of the women and 39% of the men claimed they had experienced a previous breakup from a marriage or cohabiting relationship. Among those aged 50 years or older, the most important reasons for breaking up a previous relationship were infidelity (38%) and lost love (38%). More men (44%) than women (33%) reported infidelity. Respondents younger than 50 years were more motivated by boredom. Among respondents below the age of 50 years, the most frequently reported reasons for considering termination of a present relationship were quarreling (37%), poor sex life (29%), and “other” reasons (25%). Accordingly, infidelity was not identified as an essential factor for considering a breakup from the present relationship.     

Reading against the grain: female sexuality in classical South Asian Buddhism

Responding to and building upon José Cabezón’s groundbreaking work, Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism (2017), this essay challenges a hermeneutic that capitulates to the androcentrism and misogyny of classical South Asian Buddhist views on female sexuality by suggesting avenues for ‘reading against the grain’ in search of alternative gynocentric views. In particular, it points to glimpses of a female sexuality that is relational, active, and creative in premodern South Asian Buddhist sources, especially vinaya. It also argues that a full and balanced treatment of sexual violence against women is an essential component of any comprehensive study of sexuality in classical South Asian Buddhism.     

‘I don't want to be the mother of a paedophile’: the perspectives of mothers whose adolescent sons with learning disabilities sexually offend

The subject of sexual abuse is a major focus of professional and public concern. Sexual abuse of (and by) people with learning disabilities evokes even greater disquieting emotions, and makes severe demands on the social services, and the criminal justice system. The aims of the project were: 1) to determine whether group psychotherapy produced effective outcomes for adolescent boys with learning disabilities who exhibit sexually abusive behaviour, 2) to explore the perspectives of parents and other care-givers, and 3) to document the nature and extent of service support to families. This paper focuses solely on the mothers' perspectives. This was a three-year project with six boys (under 16) receiving group psychotherapy, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Clinical measures were used to track changes throughout the course of psychotherapy. Semi-structured interviews (taped and transcribed) were held (separately) with the boys, their parents, paid care-givers and the therapists. The mothers tried hard to make sense of, and come to terms with, what was happening to their sons and to themselves, they struggled to reconcile their own confused and often conflicting emotions, and to maintain their own sense of identity. They felt almost totally unsupported by the services, both in the past and present, and could see little hope for the future. There is an urgent need for development of effective and sympathetic services for the parents of boys with learning disabilities who have been abused, and who are now showing abusive behaviour.     

Adolescent Sexual Assault Disclosure: The Impact of Peers, Families, and Schools

Adolescent sexual assault survivors are more likely to seek support from peers and families than to formal help systems, such as the medical and legal systems. In this study, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with N = 20 adolescent sexual assault survivors aged 14–17 who obtained services from Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Programs to understand the pathways that led them to seek formal help. Our goal was to examine how survivors’ initial disclosures to peers, families, and schools facilitated adolescents’ access to formal help systems. Additionally, we explored how peer, family and school systems interact as mesosystems to effect subsequent disclosures. Results show that the peer and family microsystems were decisive in survivors’ willingness to enter formal systems. Disclosure became more complex when peer, family, and school personnel all became aware of the assault. When these mesosystem interactions occurred with survivors’ consent and produced a helpful response, they were perceived as positive. Alternatively, mesosystem interactions in which survivors had minimal control resulted in greater reluctance to enter formal systems. These conclusions highlight the need educating informal support providers about community services in order to make the disclosure process easier and beneficial for survivors’ recovery and well-being.     

What's in a Disorder

Abstract

This paper analyzes the emergence of two FDA-approved products to treat “sexual disorders”: Viagra, a drug prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and the Eros, a device prescribed for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction. Through an analysis of advertising and promotional materials for Viagra and the Eros, we argue that these pharmaceutical devices and the discourses they circulate reinforce normative gender ideals by enacting dominant cultural narratives of masculinity, femininity, and male and female sexuality. These cultural narratives of normative gender structure sexuality in such a way that reinforces certain kinds of masculinity, femininity, and (hetero)sexuality, thereby rendering “atypical” gender and sexual expressions, desires, and appearances invisible and marginal. We argue that these constructions reify cultural ideologies about “what counts” as legitimate and appropriate sexuality and that these constructions have profound implication for social actors, sexologists, and therapists.     

Magnitude and determinants of behavioral risk reduction: Longitudinal analysis of a cohort at risk for AIDS

The magnitude and predictors of longitudinal behavioral change are reported in a cohort of homosexual men at risk for AIDS. Self-reports of sexual behavior were obtained at two points in time separated by an interval of approximately six months. These self-reports were used to construct both dichotomous and continuous measures of changes in behavior consistent with reduction in the transmission of the AIDS virus (HIV). Although there was considerable variability in behavior. mean changes were consistently in the desired direction. Avoidance of anonymous sexual partners, monogamy, and modification of receptive anal sex to reduce exposure to semen by condom use or withdrawal prior to ejaculation appeared to be especially important in this cohort. Both multiple linear regression and multiple logistic regression were used to examine the relationship between a model of health behavior and these outcomes. Variables examined included knowledge of AIDS. perceived risk of AIDS. the perceived efficacy of behavior in reducing AIDS risk, difficulties with sexual impulse control, belief in biomedical technology to provide a prevention or cure, social norms supportive of behavioral change, and gay network affiliation. Of all these factors, only the availability of supportive peer norms was consistently, significantly and positively related to multiple measures of outcome. Differences between these analyses and longitudinal analyses reported elsewhere are discussed. These results suggest the policies regarding HIV antibody testing should be developed cautiously. taking account of the failure of a sense of risk to predict subsequent behavioral change. They also emphasize the important role of gay organizations in developing social norms supportive of behavioral risk reduction.     

Quality-of-life after penile prosthesis placed at radical prostatectomy

Abstract

The clinical and psychosocial effects of immediate penile prosthesis implantation at the time of radical prostatectomy (RP) were investigated in 97 consecutive patients and 68 partners. Prosthesis recipients reported more frequent sexual contact, fewer marital problems and slightly fewer sexual functioning problems than the RP-alone patients. There were no group differences on any sociodemographic characteristics, on disease recurrence, on physical and psychosocial functioning, or on reported depression. Patients who chose the prosthesis did, however, evidence less of a link between depression and functional limitations and between depression and marital problems. They also had lower levels of agreement with their partners in reporting their own depression, as compared to the patients who opted for RP surgery alone. We conclude that the penile prosthesis was associated with an increased frequency of sexual contact, a reduction in reported marital problems, and stylistic differences between the two patient groups in dealing with affect.