Abstract
The main goal of this study was to investigate the association between sexual satisfaction and mental health, and the combined effect of two previously found, statistically significant moderators: partner status and sexual abstinence. In-person interviews were conducted with 223 participants (49.327% males and 50.673% females). The effect of sexual satisfaction on mental health and the interactions of sexual satisfaction × partner status, sexual satisfaction × sexual abstinence, and sexual satisfaction × partner status × sexual abstinence were examined using simple moderation and moderated moderation tests after controlling for a set of sociodemographic, penitentiary, and interpersonal variables. Results revealed a direct relationship between sexual satisfaction and mental health only for the sexually abstinent group. Partner status was not significant as a moderator. It seems that the lack of sexual relationships is more powerful as a moderator than the lack of a romantic relationship. Additionally, the sexually abstinent group showed lower levels of sexual satisfaction in those with a partner outside or inside prison, and lower mental health independently of the current romantic status, than sexually active inmates. These findings point to the importance of sexual satisfaction to mental health in sexual situations of extreme disadvantage.
Highlights
More than 10 million people are living in jails and prisons worldwide [1], and considerably larger numbers of ex-prisoners are living in society [2]
A high prevalence of mental health problems is present in prison populations [3]
The findings revealed that higher levels of sexual satisfaction were associated with higher levels of mental health and other well-being related measures
Summary
More than 10 million people are living in jails and prisons worldwide [1], and considerably larger numbers of ex-prisoners are living in society [2]. There is increasing epidemiological evidence that prisoners are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than the average population [4,5,6,7]. In the most representative Spanish study that included 28.8% of the inmate populations in five different prisons, the lifetime prevalence rate of mental disorders was 84.4%. The prevalence of any mental disorder in the last month before the time of interview was 41.2% [8] These results were confirmed more recently by a study with a smaller sample size (n = 184), obtained from three prototypical Spanish prisons [9]. In this study, the inmate population was 5.3 times more likely to have a mental health problem than the general population
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