Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images in Depression.

Ondřej Novák,Klára Bártová,Kateřina Klapilová

doi:10.3390/ijerph18168880

Abstract

Depression greatly affects sexuality. Theoretical and empirical evidence account for the existence of attention bias to sex-related stimuli. This attention bias might be impaired in depression, resulting in sexual problems. A sample of 13 patients with depression and 13 matched healthy controls were tested using the dot-probe and picture recognition task to measure attention to erotic images. No difference in attention to sex-related stimuli (ω2 = 0, p = 0.22) and in memory bias (ω2 = 0, p = 0.72) was found between the two groups. Explorative analyses were conducted to identify the sexual content-induced delay effect in the data, assess variability differences, and compare trial-level bias score-based indexes between groups. Across all analyses, there was little evidence for depression affecting sexual-related cognitive processing, and even this might be explained by other means. Our results suggest that restrained attention is probably not the main factor behind sexual problems in depression.

Highlights

Significant depression is closely associated with severe changes in sexuality
We propose that patients with depression will have significantly lower attention bias and memory bias to sex-related stimuli than healthy participants
Patients with depression were generally slower in both cognitive tasks, our main hypothesis was not supported by the data, showing no significant difference in attention bias or memory bias between the two groups

Summary

Introduction

Significant depression is closely associated with severe changes in sexuality.According to recent meta-analysis, males and females with depression are 1.7 times more likely to suffer from sexual dysfunction, such as lack or loss of sexual desire, lack of sexual pleasure, orgasmic dysfunction, premature ejaculation, vaginism, dyspareunia, or failure of genital response [1]. Significant depression is closely associated with severe changes in sexuality. Erectile dysfunction alone affects males with depression. 1.4 times more that those without depression [2]. Even subclinical levels of depressive symptoms negatively affect sexuality in both females [3] and males [4,5]. While the strength of association between depression and sexuality is well explored, its exact mechanisms are poorly understood. Cognitive theories see depression as a result of maladaptive cognitions [6]. It is a two-way interaction: mood-congruent information processing biases shape attention, memory and interpretations and these cognitions fuel depressive feelings [7,8]

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