013 Associations Between Partner Responses to Low Interest/Arousal and the Sexual and Relationship Wellbeing of Women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder and their Partners

Abstract

Low sexual interest/arousal is prevalent in women of all ages and is associated with poorer sexual and relationship wellbeing compared to women without this difficulty. Women who are partnered are almost 5 times more likely to be sexually distressed by low interest/arousal than unpartnered women, suggesting that interpersonal factors are relevant to the experience of these problems. Previous research suggests that the way partners respond to a sexual difficulty is associated with sexual and psychological outcomes for women with genito-pelvic pain, a sexual difficulty also affecting sexual desire. Using data from both partners, we examined whether affective partner responses to low sexual interest/arousal was associated with the sexual, relationship, and psychological wellbeing of women with Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD) and their partners. Women diagnosed with SIAD (N = 57) and their partners completed a measure of partner reponse to low interest/arousal consisting of 23 bipolar emotional pairs (e.g., hostile vs. warm). Women with SIAD reported on their perception of their partners’ response to their low sexual interest/arousal, while partners reported on their own responses. All participants completed standardized measures of sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, sexual distress, and anxiety. Data was analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to account for the non-independence of the data.