Sexual Avoidance Research Articles

La relation entre l'abus sexuel subi durant l'enfance et la satisfaction conjugale chez l'homme.

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between child sexual abuse and men’ dyadic adjustment, using a theoretical model integrating attachment, that is anxiety about abandonment and avoidance of proximity, and psychological distress. Participants were 316 men forming a probabilistic sample of FrenchQuebecer living in couple. Structural equation analyses showed that sexual abuse predicted dyadic adjustment through anxiety about abandonment and psychological distress. Moreover, there was no relationship between sexual abuse and avoidance of proximity, while this variable was associated to dyadic adjustment.

Red clover extract (MF11RCE) supplementation and postmenopausal vaginal and sexual health

Approximately 75% to 85% of postmenopausal women seek medical attention due to symptoms of vaginal atrophy and atrophic vaginitis. In Ecuador 72.7% of postmenopausal women have been found to present vaginal dryness associated to decreased libido (76.5%) and sexual avoidance (75.2%). Although several options have been advocated for the treatment of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy estrogens applied local or systemically continue to be an important one. Despite this the recently reported results of the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study have changed physicians and patients attitude towards hormone therapy increasing their interest for alternative therapies. Phytoestrogens and its main isoflavones (soy or red clover derived) are among these alternatives. (excerpt)

Resilient Sexual Desire in Heterosexual Couples

Inhibited sexual desire (ISD), characterized by low sexual interest and sexual avoidance, is a common problem for heterosexual couples presenting to sex therapy. ISD is multicausal and multidimensional and manifests differently for males and females. Precipitating factors include traumatic sexual experiences, negative self-image, sexual guilt or shame, deviant or variant sexual behavior, relationship difficulties, and a chronic sexual dysfunction. Regardless of whether the male or female experiences ISD, the effect on the couple is that the cycle of positive anticipation, pleasure-oriented intercourse, and a regular rhythm of sexual contact is replaced by anticipatory anxiety, unsuccessful intercourse, self-consciousness, and avoidance. This article outlines a therapeutic plan for establishing resilient sexual desire by emphasizing intimacy, pleasure, satisfaction, and realistic sexual expectations.

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder: an underestimated condition in men

HSDD is associated with a wide variety of biological and psychological causes [1]. At present, no single instrument for diagnostically assessing HSDD prevails [3]. Sexual healthcare providers who wish to be alert to a diagnosis of HSDD are advised to pose direct and unambiguous questions to their patients, to probe for aspects of sexual desire and motivation. Patients often will not reveal sexual problems unless explicitly invited [4]. Collateral information may be obtained through questionnaires, completed before or after the consultation. Several reliable and valid questionnaires are available for assessing sexual desire problems, with easy-to-follow instructions. The Sexual Desire Inventory [5] was designed specifically to measure level of sexual desire, the International Index of Erectile Function [6] provides a subscale to measure sexual desire, and the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction [7–9] provides subscales of sexual avoidance, and of infrequency of sexual contact.

Lemur Latrines: Observations of Latrine Behavior in Wild Primates and Possible Ecological Significance

Latrine behavior, or the preferential, repeated use of 1 or more specific defecation sites, is well known among mammals and believed to function in olfactory communication among individuals or groups in many circumstances. Primates have reduced their capacity for olfaction in favor of more developed visual systems; however, several prosimian primates regularly use olfactory communication for transmission of social signals, most often using scent gland secretions and urine. Latrine behaviors have been described rarely in primates and have traditionally not been included in reviews of primate olfactory communication, yet we found ample evidence that certain primate species habitually use latrine sites for defecation. Here we review the previous evidence for latrine use in primates and report new and more extensive observations of latrine use in 2 lemuriform primates (Lepilemur sp. and Hapalemur griseus). Based on these new observations, we present and evaluate 4 available hypotheses for the function of latrines (advertisement of sexual cycling, predation avoidance, intragroup spacing, and intergroup resource defense) in lemur taxa for which sufficient evidence of latrine use exists. In all cases, intergroup resource defense is the function most consistent with available observations.

Women Coping with a Partner’s Sexual Avoidance

Causes and cures for sexual dysfunctions have preoccupied both charlatans and scientists for centuries. When in 1970 gynecologist William Masters studied normal men and women’s sexual responses in a lab setting, he also evolved brief (14 days) behavioral sex therapy, trained professionals, and recorded the technique in a bestseller. It was a true advancement in an arena where previously there was little knowledge or hope for improvement for problems of long duration. At the time, the symptom lack of sexual desire, sexual avoidance, or hypoactive sexual desire (HSD) was not defined, classified, or included. It was perhaps a decade later, after terms like frigidity and inhibited sexual desire were discarded as pejorative, that the 1987 DSM-III-R coded HSD applicable to both sexes. A separate code, female sexual arousal, was continued in the 1994 DSM-IV without a male component, although there are literally hundreds of males who present for treatment with this symptom.

Socio-cultural aspects of menstruation in an urban slum in Delhi, India

This paper attempts to understand the experience of menstruation in the socio-cultural context of an urban Indian slum. Observations were gathered as part of a larger study of reproductive tract infections in women in Delhi, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative phase consisted of 52 in-depth interviews, three focus groups discussions and five key informant interviews. In the quantitative phase inferences were drawn from 380 respondents. Mean age at menarche was 13.5. Onset of menarche is associated with physical maturity and the ability to marry and reproduce. However, a culture of silence surrounds menarche, an event which took the women interviewed almost by surprise. Most were previously unaware that it would happen and the information they were given was sparse. Menstruation is associated with taboos and restrictions on work, sex, food and bathing, but the taboos observed by most of the women were avoidance of sex and not participating in religious practices, the taboo on not going into the kitchen, which had been observed in rural joint households, was not being observed after migration from rural areas due to lack of social support mechanisms. There is a clear need to provide information to young women on these subjects in ways that are acceptable to their parents, schools and the larger community, and that allow them to raise their own concerns. Education on these subjects should be envisaged as a long-term, continuous process, beginning well before menarche and continuing long after it.

Male Sexuality After Fifty

A crucial transition for adult males, especially after fifty, is to challenge adolescent learning about sex as a performance where the criteria is easy, automatic, 100 percent predictable erections and intercourse. Most insidious, and ultimately iatrogenic, is the view of the man as an autonomous functioner who needs nothing from the woman. The traditional double standard sets the stage for erectile dysfunction and ultimately inhibited sexual desire and avoidance. Sexual desire and functioning is facilitated by valuing intimate, interactive sexuality and accepting a variable, flexible approach to pleasuring, eroticism, and intercourse.

Child sexual abuse prevention programs: do they decrease the occurrence of child sexual abuse?

Objective: The primary goal of the current study was to determine whether rates of child sexual abuse differed among undergraduate women who either had or had not participated in a sexual abuse prevention program during childhood. A secondary goal was to determine whether differences emerged in sexual satisfaction or avoidance of sexual activity between those women who had or had not participated in such a program. Method: Eight hundred and twenty-five women undergraduates from a New England state university filled out a survey on “sexual experiences” for research credit. Respondents were asked detailed questions regarding past histories of child sexual abuse and participation in school-based prevention programs during childhood. Additionally, they responded to questions about their current sexual satisfaction and sexual behaviors. Results: Sixty-two percent of the sample reported having participated in a “good touch-bad touch” sexual abuse prevention program in school. Eight percent of respondents who reported ever having had a prevention program also reported having been subsequently sexually abused, compared to 14% of respondents who did not ever have a prevention program. No differences were found in adult sexual satisfaction or on behavioral measures of sexual activity between those respondents who had and had not participated in a prevention program. Conclusions: This is the first study to find that school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs are associated with a reduced incidence of child sexual abuse. Additionally, contrary to concerns voiced in the literature, there was no evidence that prevention programs are associated with decreased sexual satisfaction or avoidance of sex in adulthood. Implications of the results for further study are discussed.

Escape from Risk

Abstract Since the advent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay men have reduced their sexual behaviors that put them at risk. Despite these changes, recent studies have found that some men who have sex with men (MSM) who regularly practice safer sex behaviors, periodically engage in risky anal sex. Many of these MSM realize that their “lapses” place them at risk for HIV infection; nevertheless, they engage in unprotected sex. In response to these findings, some behavioral scientists have questioned the ability of existing models of condom use to completely account for all types of HIV sexual risk and risk avoidance behaviors, especially episodic unprotected anal sex by men who otherwise use condoms. A cognitive escape model proposed by McKir-nan, Ostrow, and Hope (1996) is an explanation that may be able to account for periodic “lapses” in condom use by MSM who usually comply with safer sex standards. This manuscript applies that model to textual data from a sample of 41 MSM who have sex in bathhouses. In depth,...

Relapse prevention strategies and techniques for inhibited sexual desire

Relapse prevention strategies and techniques are integral to cognitive-behavioral couples sex therapy and of special importance in maintaining sexual desire. Sexual avoidance is poison for desire. Specific relapse prevention techniques are described. A case study examines a successful application. Using booster and follow-up sessions maintains accountability to each other and to therapeutic goals.

Relapse Prevention Strategies and Techniques for Inhibited Sexual Desire

Abstract Relapse prevention strategies and techniques are integral to cognitive-behavioral couples sex therapy and of special importance in maintaining sexual desire. Sexual avoidance is poison for desire. Specific relapse prevention techniques are described. A case study examines a successful application. Using booster and follow-up sessions maintains accountability to each other and to therapeutic goals.

Effects of child and adult sexual abuse on adult sexuality

The differential effects of child and adult sexual abuse on adult sexual functioning were examined. The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS)1 and a sexual experiences questionnaire were administered to 201 psychology students at the University of South Florida, 175 of whom were retained in the study. GRISS variables that were analyzed consisted of anorgasmia, sexual avoidance, sexual dissatisfaction, sexual noncommunication, nonsensuality, and vaginismus. Women who were sexually abused in adulthood were more sexually dissatisfied and nonsensual than women who had no history of sexual abuse. In addition, women who had a history of sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood were less satisfied with the overall quality of their most recent sexual relationship than non-abused women and had higher numbers of unsafe sexual partners.

Intimacy patterns and relationship satisfaction of women with eating problems and the mediating effects of depression, trait anxiety and social anxiety

The association between eating problems; and intimacy and relationship styles was examined. Young adult females ( n=360) completed the Adult Attachment Style (AAS), questionnaire; questions on satisfaction with intimacy; the Sexual Attitude Scale; items on sexual avoidance; a set of six descriptions for mother, friend, and partner; and measures of depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, and eating problems. Women with greater eating problems described more difficulties in intimate relationships including less satisfaction with closeness, more discomfort in close intimate relationships, and less positive descriptions of friend and mother. When depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety were entered first in a regression, intimacy measures no longer added unique variance. However, public self-consciousness predicted over and above general affect and social anxiety measures. Results were consistent with a mediator model in which intimacy difficulties for women with eating problems are explained by depression, trait anxiety, and public self-consciousness.

Psychosexual sequelae of gynaecological conditions

Abstract This article presents selected findings of a study investigating the effects of gynaecological conditions and hysterectomy on the emotional health and sexuality of 656 Western Australian women. The women were assigned to one of the following three groups: women affected by gynaecological conditions; women who had undergone a hysterectomy; and women who had experienced neither and considered themselves to be in good health. The responses of women affected by gynaecological conditions suggested that these conditions were contributing to emotional impairment and sexual dysfunction in terms of loss of sexual interest, pain on intercourse and sexual avoidance. Some of these sequelae were confirmed by statistical analysis. The responses showed a significant loss of satisfaction with coitus since the onset of gynaecological problems, compared with their previous health state. By contrast, the hysterectomy group showed a statistically significant increase in satisfaction with coital activity. The gynaeco...

Trauma-Related Beliefs as Mediators of Sexual Abuse Impact in Adult Women Survivors:

A 56-item measure of trauma-related beliefs was piloted with 59 female adult sexual abuse survivors. The measure includes four internally-consistent subscales which assess beliefs reflective of Finkelhor and Browne's (1986) traumagenic dynames model: Self-Blame/Stigmatization, Betrayal, Powerlessness, and Traumatic Sexualization. Multiple regression analyses examined the relationships between trauma-related beliefs and other psychological/behavioral outcomes. Self-Blame/Stigmatization beliefs predicted lower self-esteem, interpersonal problems, depression, anxiety, and overall psychological distress. Betrayal beliefs predicted interpersonal problems, an external locus of control, and sexual problems. Powerlessness beliefs predicted lower self-esteem, depression, and external locus of control, and sexual problems. Powerlessness beliefs predicted lower self-esteem, depression, and external loxus of control. Traumatic sexualization beliefs predicted anxiety and sexual avoidance. Results are discussed in term...

Post-menopausal Touch Impairment Presenting as Sexual Avoidance: A case report

Abstract A patient who experienced marked post-menopausal touch impairment is described. She presented with sexual avoidance due to cutaneous discomfort and pain when touched by her husband. Oestrogen replacement effectively cured the condition.

Posttraumatic stress disorder in victims of motor vehicle accidents.

All of the patients with PTSD brought on by motor vehicle accidents who were involved in prolonged treatment with the author returned to driving, although not with the same level of calmness and efficiency they had expenienced before their accident. With a few exceptions, all returned to work. They reported that keeping busy was an essential distraction from their posttrauma thoughts. Although PTSD patients involved in long-term treatment can appear normal, significant tional impairments may persist. Restricted sexual activity, impaired assertiveness, and avoidance of conflict are common residual problems. Some patients may remain susceptible to exacerbations of PTSD symptoms in response to intercurrent stress from any source. Consequently, difficulties in the patients' work and family life may develop. Ongoing treatment, using active medication management and psychotherapy, is necessary to reduce those problems. Traditional supportive techniques such as ventilation, clarification, reassurance, education,...

Intimacy disorders and sexual panic states.

This paper explores the question: Is sexual avoidance a manifestation of intrapsychic barriers to emotional closeness? In some cases it clearly is, but in other cases it is the result of other determinants such as a partner's excessive demands for intimacy and communication and his or her intolerance for even normal emotional distance. Our finding that couples with this dynamic and with sexual aversions have an unusually high prevalence of panic disorder is considered in the light of its clinical implications.

Gender Segregation in Childhood

This chapter argues that gender segregation is a powerful phenomenon of childhood. The extent of its occurrence does depend on situations arranged by adults for children's interactions and therefore cross-cultural and within-culture situational variations make a great deal of difference in the amount of interactive contact male and female children have with one another. The implication of analysis is that, over and above situational variation, there are forces for children to segregate themselves spontaneously in situations, such as school playgrounds where there are large numbers of children and where a child's behavior is open to the observation of other children. The chapter suggests that gender segregation results from a combination of several forces, including the dominance relations between the sexes, age-specific avoidance of romantic or sexually toned relationships, and gender labeling. The last is of paramount importance and may account, in part, for both the dominance relationships and sexual avoidance.