Psychological aspects of sexual inadequacy in women.

Abstract

Abstract Sexual adaptation was studied in 101 randomly selected, pregnant, nulliparous women. Data were collected by interviewing both the women themselves and their mothers. Further, the women in both generations were studied by means of psychological tests and inventories. In order to elucidate psychological factors of importance for sexual adaptation in women, the data collected were put into relation to data about sexual satisfaction and organismic consistency during the year before the pregnancy. The main results were as follows: 1. A positive experience of the partner was of great importance for the women's satisfaction with their sexual relationship. Incontrast, the experience of the partner was totally unrelated to organismic consistency. 2. Recent mental health was only weakly associated with sexual adaptation. However, sexual dissatisfaction and a low organismic consistency was linked with childhood mental disturbance. 3. Women being themselves the oldest sibling and women having no older sister reported sexual dissatisfaction and organismic dysfunction less often than others. 4. Poor childhood contact with the father and a negative experience of the father was related to sexual adaptation difficulties. In contrast, the early contact with and experience of the mother was unrelated to sexual adaptation. 5. Mothers of sexually dissatisfied women and of the women reporting a low orgasmic consistency displayed a more negative attitude towards their daughter than mothers of sexually well adjusted women. It was concluded that early emotional experiences are of great importance for the later sexual adaptation. Negative experience of the father and a lack of acceptance on the part of the mother seemed to be detrimental to sexual adaptation in adulthood. Some possible mechanisms behind the results were discussed.