Effects of Depressive Symptoms and Experimentally Adopted Schemas on Sexual Arousal and Affect in Sexually Healthy Women

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of depressive mood symptoms and experimentally adopted sexual schemas on women's sexual arousal and affect. Women's vaginal response, subjective sexual arousal, and affect were measured in response to sexually explicit visual material in a laboratory setting. At baseline on a self-report measure, women with depressive mood symptoms (n = 28) reported significantly lower sexual desire than women with normal mood (n=28), but no significant differences in arousal, orgasm, satisfaction, or pain. Participants were asked to adopt both a positive and negative sexual self-schema prior to viewing erotic stimuli. Women in both mood groups demonstrated significantly greater subjective sexual arousal, vaginal response, and positive affect in the positive schema condition than in the negative schema condition when controlling for anxiety. There were no main effects for mood symptoms. These findings support an information processing conceptualization of sexual arousal and suggest that an acute dose of cognitive sexual schemas can significantly impact subsequent sexual and affective responses. Implications of findings for the assessment and treatment of sexual dysfunction are noted.

Sexual Self Schema as a Moderator of Sexual and Psychological Outcomes for Gynecologic Cancer Survivors

“…We suggest that women with a positive schema respond differently to sexual disruptions as they arise, consistent with analog studies (Kuffel & Heiman, 2006). For example, they might attribute sexual difficulties to external, treatmentspecific circumstances (e.g., vaginal dryness due to radiation therapy effects, fatigue due to chemotherapy) rather than internal causes (e.g., I have even less interest in sex now, I am embarrassed about my incision scar).…”

Sexualité et satisfaction conjugale des femmes ayant des symptômes dépressifs :

“…En ce sens, les femmes ayant des symptômes dépressifs ont des résultats significativement inférieurs sur plus de la moitié des sous-échelles évaluant le fonctionnement sexuel, i.e., pensées sexuelles et libido (désir sexuel, intérêt sexuel; p < 0,06), fréquence des activités sexuelles, satisfaction sexuelle par rapport au partenaire et problèmes affectant le fonctionnement sexuel (lubrification vaginale, dysfonctions sexuelles, dyspareunie, problèmes affectifs reliés à la sexualité, problèmes orgasmiques, préoccupations sexuelles) et sur l'échelle globale évaluant le fonctionnement sexuel général. Ces résultats concordent avec ceux obtenus dans plusieurs autres études mentionnées précédemment (Azar et al, 2007;Clayton et al, 1997;Cyranowski, Bromberger et al, 2004;Frohlich & Meston, 2002;Kuffel & Heiman, 2006;Mathew & Weinman, 1982).…”

“…Cependant, ces résultats sont concordants avec ceux de Kuffel et Heiman (2006) qui ont démontré une absence de différence significative pour l'excitation sexuelle et le plaisir sexuel.…”

Female sexual self‐schema after interpersonal trauma: Relationship to psychiatric and cognitive functioning in a clinical treatment‐seeking sample

“…In Meston et al's (2006) CSA survivor sample, higher depressive symptoms were associated with less positive scores on the romantic/passionate subscale after controlling for anxiety. Conversely, depressive symptoms were not associated with sexual schemas after controlling for anxiety in samples of 56 community women (Kuffel & Heiman, 2006) or 17 women with sexual arousal disorder (Middleton, Kuffel, & Heiman, 2008). Thus, it appears that for women with a history of interpersonal assault, increased depressive symptoms may be associated with more negative sexual self-schemas.…”