Effects of Mindfulness Training on Body Awareness to Sexual Stimuli

Abstract

Objectives Treatments of female sexual dysfunction have been largely unsuccessful because they do not address the psychological factors that underlie female sexuality. Negative self-evaluative processes interfere with the ability to attend and register physiological changes (interoceptive awareness). This study explores the effect of mindfulness meditation training on interoceptive awareness and the three categories of known barriers to healthy sexual functioning: attention, self-judgment, and clinical symptoms. Methods Forty-four college students (30 women) participated in either a 12-week course containing a “meditation laboratory” or an active control course with similar content or laboratory format. Interoceptive awareness was measured by reaction time in rating physiological response to sexual stimuli. Psychological barriers were assessed with self-reported measures of mindfulness and psychological well-being. Results Women who participated in the meditation training became significantly faster at registering their physiological responses (interoceptive awareness) to sexual stimuli compared with active controls (F(1,28) = 5.45, p = .03, ηp2 = 0.15). Female meditators also improved their scores on attention (t = 4.42, df = 11, p = .001), self-judgment, (t = 3.1, df = 11, p = .01), and symptoms of anxiety (t = −3.17, df = 11, p = .009) and depression (t = −2.13, df = 11, p < .05). Improvements in interoceptive awareness were correlated with improvements in the psychological barriers to healthy sexual functioning (r = −0.44 for attention, r = −0.42 for self-judgment, and r = 0.49 for anxiety; all p < .05). Conclusions Mindfulness-based improvements in interoceptive awareness highlight the potential of mindfulness training as a treatment of female sexual dysfunction.

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“…Mindfulness meditators were more aware of their visceral responses and thereby more aware of their emotions. In another study, Silverstein, Brown, Roth, and Britton (2011) reported evidence of increased interoceptive awareness in female undergraduates engaged in mindfulness training. They suggested that women who were distracted by emotionally driven self-evaluative thoughts were much slower in registering their bodily reactions, as measured by reaction time in rating physiological response to sexual stimuli, whereas mindfulness meditation training increased awareness of bodily reactions by decreasing self-evaluative thoughts.…”

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“…Compared to controls, Silverstein, Brown, Roth, and Britton [34] found improvement in awareness of physiological activation in response to sexual slides in university subjects after a 30-h mindfulness meditation program. The levels of awareness for women were similar to those of men after the intervention.…”

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“…Mindfulness meditators were more aware of their visceral responses and thereby more aware of their emo tions. In another study, Silverstein et al (2011) report evidence of increased interoceptive awareness in female undergraduates engaged in mindfulness training. These authors suggest that women who were distracted by emotion ally driven self-evaluative thoughts were much slower in registering their b odily reactions, as measured by reaction time in rating physiological response to sexual stimuli, whereas mindfulness meditation training increased aware ness of bodily reactions by decreasing self-evaluative thoughts.…”