Abstract
Sexual concordance is defined as the association between genital response and self-reported sexual arousal. Though one might predict a strong association between sexual concordance and awareness of other internal physiological sensations (termed interoception), past research on sexually healthy women has not found these different domains to be related. The aim of the present study was to test the association between interoception and sexual concordance in a clinical sample of women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD). Fifty-two women with SIAD completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), a validated self-report measure of interoception, and completed a heart-beat accuracy test, an objective measure of interoception. They also participated in a laboratory-based assessment of physiological sexual arousal and self-reported sexual arousal while viewing an erotic film. Mental and physiological arousal were correlated at r = 0.27 (range -0.80 to 0.95). There was no significant association between sexual concordance and women’s heartrate awareness. However, five aspects of interoceptive awareness (noticing, emotional awareness, self-regulation, body-listening, and trusting), were predictive of lower, and one aspect (not-distracting) was predictive of higher sexual concordance. We discuss the findings in relation to the role of emotions and arousal states in the interoception-sexual concordance relationship.
Highlights
A sexual dysfunction arises when there is a disturbance in a person’s ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure, and it is associated with significant personal distress [1]
Measured interoceptive awareness in our participants was significantly lower than those reported in the original Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) validation sample [34]
Taken together with the findings of the previous meta-analysis, our study suggests that women with sexual dysfunction and sexually healthy women show considerable variability in their sexual concordance, and the predictors of this variability should be a focus of future study
Summary
A sexual dysfunction arises when there is a disturbance in a person’s ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure, and it is associated with significant personal distress [1]. One of the most common sexual complaints in women is a lack of interest in sex, which is defined in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD). The diagnosis of this disorder requires at least three of the following: (a) a lack of interest in sex, (b) few/no sexual thoughts, (c) lack of receptivity to a partner’s sexual invitations and no initiation of sexual behavior, (d) a lack of pleasure during sexual activity, (e) lack of responsive desires to erotic triggers, and (f) reduced physical signs of sexual arousal [1]. By increasing women’s ability to attend to sexual stimuli, mindfulness may improve
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