Sexual Orientation, Body Image, and Age as Predictors of Sexual Self-Schema for Women with Physical Disabilities

Abstract

Women with physical disabilities rank having a positive sexual self-schema as important, similar to women without disabilities. Sexual minority women with disabilities, however, may experience stigma related to both sexual orientation and disability, which may impact how they feel about their bodies and sexual selves. Alternatively, sexual minority women with physical disabilities may have developed psychological strengths through the experience of having a marginalized sexual identity, particularly in relationship to positive sexual self-schema and body image. This study focused on sexual self-schema among sexual minority and heterosexual women with physical disabilities and explored two hypotheses: (1) Sexual orientation would predict sexual self-schema among women with disabilities, after controlling for age of onset of disability, severity of disability, age, and body image; (2) body image would mediate the relationship between sexual orientation and sexual self-schema. Sexual minority women reported more positive sexual self-schemas than heterosexual women; however, the interaction of body image and sexual orientation was not significant. The findings are discussed along with clinical implications and recommendations for future research.