Showing papers in "Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy in 1984"
TL;DR: The role of sex hormones in the sexuality of men is now becoming clearer and androgens may be beneficial in treating loss of sexual appetite in men but are unlikely to improve erectile dysfunction unless it is secondary to lost sexual appetite.
Abstract: The role of sex hormones in the sexuality of men is now becoming clearer. Androgens are necessary for normal sexual appetite and for ejaculation. Erectile mechanisms, providing that appropriate erotic stimuli are available, are probably not androgen dependent. How much testosterone is required to obtain maximum sexual effect is not yet clear but it probably varies from individual to individual and may be well within the normal range in some men. Androgens may therefore be beneficial in treating loss of sexual appetite in men but are unlikely to improve erectile dysfunction unless it is secondary to loss of sexual appetite. In women the picture is much less clear. Apart from the estrogen dependence of the vaginal epithelium, important for the postmenopausal woman, female sexuality shows a very unpredictable relationship with reproductive hormones. Possible reasons for this variable picture are discussed, in particular a greater genetic variability and behavioral sensitivity to hormones in women than in men.
95Â citations
TL;DR: Findings indicate that the vagina of most women has a zone (or zones) of erotic sensitivity whose appropriate stimulation can lead to orgasm; it does not support, however, the particular location and characteristics of the vaginal erogenous zone described by other authors.
Abstract: Vaginal erotic sensitivity was investigated in a group of 48 coitally experienced volunteers by means of systematic digital stimulation of both vaginal walls. It was found that 45 subjects reported erotic sensitivity located in most cases on the upper anterior wall, and of those, 30 (66.7%) either reached orgasm or requested to stop stimulation short of orgasm. This study supports previous findings indicating that the vagina of most women has a zone (or zones) of erotic sensitivity whose appropriate stimulation can lead to orgasm; it does not support, however, the particular location and characteristics of the vaginal erogenous zone described by other authors.
58Â citations
TL;DR: The term of sexual desire should be recognized as a shorthand means of referring to the mind's capacity to integrate biologic, intrapsychic and interpersonal complexity.
Abstract: The propensity to behave sexually--unlike the frequency of sexual behavior--is not a discrete quantifiable phenomenon. At every stage of adulthood, sexual desire is produced by the interaction of biologic drive, psychologic motivation and cognitive aspiration. Motivation, the most clinically vital of these components, can be understood within four contexts: sexual identity, quality of the current non-sexual relationship, reasons for specific episodes of sexual behavior and transference from past significant attachments. The common psychological inhibitions of sexual desire can be translated into motivations for not behaving sexually deriving from one or more of these contexts. The less frequent excesses of desire can also be understood from the vantage points of these contexts. Rather than continue to oversimplify the concept of sexual desire, the term should be recognized as a shorthand means of referring to the mind's capacity to integrate biologic, intrapsychic and interpersonal complexity.
47Â citations
TL;DR: A survey of men treated for nonseminomatous tumors revealed that 20% had low levels of sexual activity, 10% had erectile dysfunction, 6% had difficulty reaching orgasm, and 38% reported decreased orgasmic pleasure.
Abstract: Testicular cancer patients are at risk for sexual and marital problems because their cancer and its treatment reduce their fertility and disrupt intimate relationships at a crucial life stage (age 15-34). Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery have successfully increased survival rates, but at the price of infertility and sexual dysfunction. A survey of men treated for nonseminomatous tumors revealed that 20% had low levels of sexual activity, 10% had erectile dysfunction, 6% had difficulty reaching orgasm, and 38 % reported decreased orgasmic pleasure. Sexual anxiety related to cancer treatment accounts for much of this dysfunction, but organic factors such as hormonal, vascular or neurologic damage may also contribute. Reactions of couples to infertility and marital conflicts common in this group are discussed. Suggestions for sexual and marital counseling are offered.
40Â citations
TL;DR: While 6-9 month follow-up revealed that most treated patients had fallen back toward the pretest baseline (lower rates of successful intercourse), group means as a whole were still significantly higher than pretreatment intercourse success rates.
Abstract: Sixteen males with erectile failure, married or living with their partners, were assigned to either 12 bi-weekly sessions (6 weeks) of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) or a 6-week waiting-list control group. Active treatment administered by a graduate student in psychology with special training in RET resulted in patients making significantly more sexual intercourse attempts, reporting significantly reduced sexual anxiety, and having a significantly higher number of successful intercourse attempts than the waiting-list control group. While 6-9 month follow-up revealed that most treated patients had fallen back toward the pretest baseline (lower rates of successful intercourse), group means as a whole were still significantly higher than pretreatment intercourse success rates. The significance of these findings are discussed.
39Â citations
TL;DR: The results indicate that a cognitive-behavioral sex therapy program is clearly effective in changing a wide range of subjective satisfaction and behavioral measures, with concurrence of the husbands' and wives' data providing further strength to these findings.
Abstract: The goal of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of three therapeutic formats: Standard Couple Therapy, Group Therapy, and Minimal Contact Bibliotherapy (self-help) in the treatment of 23 couples in which the wife was suffering from secondary orgasmic dysfunction. The results indicate that a cognitive-behavioral sex therapy program is clearly effective in changing a wide range of subjective satisfaction and behavioral measures, with concurrence of the husbands' and wives' data providing further strength to these findings. Differences in outcome which were elicited in the three experimental treatment conditions were mainly in favor of the Standard Couple condition. Since such differences were neither frequent nor great, practical issues related to increasing the effectiveness of less time-consuming treatment formats are discussed. In addition, the theoretical implications of using global versus specific therapy outcome criteria are explored.
35Â citations
TL;DR: There was a large difference between the proportion of prevalences of heterosexual vs. homosexual offenders against children on the one hand and the proportional prevalence of gynephilia vs. androphilia, which suggests that the development of erotically preferred partner sex and partner age are not independent of each other.
Abstract: In the context of a search for testable etiological theories of pedophilia, the relationship of pedophilia to partner sex preference was investigated. The proportional prevalences of gynephilia and androphilia were compared with the proportional prevalences of sexual offenders victimizing female children and of such offenders against male children. Since pedophilia either does not exist at all in women, or is extremely rare, only men were included in the study. We derived the proportional prevalence of androphilia from a review of the main pertinent studies, including Gebhard's reassessment of the study by Kinsey et al. particularly of the section on gynephilia vs. androphilia. The numbers of heterosexual vs. homosexual offenders against children were derived from the studies by Mohr et al., by Gebhard et al., and from a group of 457 sex offenders against children seen in the course of several years at the Department of Behavioural Sexology of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. There was a large difference between the proportion of prevalences of heterosexual vs. homosexual offenders against children on the one hand and the proportional prevalences of gynephilia vs. androphilia, on the other. This difference suggests that the development of erotically preferred partner sex and partner age are not independent of each other and that in pedophilia, the development of heterosexuality or homosexuality is brought about by factors different from those operative in the development of androphilia or gynephilia.
35Â citations
TL;DR: Investigation of the relationships between depression scores and survivor and assault characteristics indicates that the nonspecifics of the assault and the use of a weapon by the assailant were most highly correlated with development of depressive symptoms.
Abstract: The Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess depressive symptoms in 178 sexual assault survivors and 50 control subjects who had never been sexually assaulted. The sexual assault survivors reported significantly more depressive symptoms than the control subjects, and further analyses strongly suggested that the depressive symptoms were caused by the sexual assault. Investigation of the relationships between depression scores and survivor and assault characteristics indicates that the nonspecifics of the assault and the use of a weapon by the assailant were most highly correlated with development of depressive symptoms.
34Â citations
TL;DR: A cognitive-behavioral model for conceptualizing and treating inhibited sexual desire is presented and it is suggested that therapeutic focus should be on quality and satisfaction of the broadly defined sexual relationship rather than the performance goal of intercourse frequency.
Abstract: This paper, based on a clinical sample of 20 couples and 10 males without partners, presents a cognitive-behavioral model for conceptualizing and treating inhibited sexual desire. Tentative hypotheses and observations are made including: 1) there is a better prognosis if the desire dysfunction is not complicated by any other dysfunction; 2) females have a better prognosis than males; 3) it is crucial to break the self-defeating cycle of negative anticipation, aversive experience and avoidance; 4) therapeutic focus should be on quality and satisfaction of the broadly defined sexual relationship rather than the performance goal of intercourse frequency.
34Â citations
TL;DR: It was reported that while transitory emotional problems were not uncommon, 64-100% of the implant recipients reported being at least fairly satisfied, and high-risk populations were identified.
Abstract: The literature on postsurgical adjustment and/or satisfaction of patients and/or their partners following implantation of a penile prosthesis is reviewed. Only those studies that have systematically assessed psychological variables independent of surgical or functional outcome are included. It is reported that while transitory emotional problems were not uncommon, 64-100% of the implant recipients reported being at least fairly satisfied. Similar levels of satisfaction were reported for their partners when they were interviewed together or when patients responded for their partners. However, lower levels were reported when partners were interviewed separately. Satisfaction was reported to be associated with several variables, and high-risk populations were identified. It is important to interpret these conclusions with extreme caution because of the many serious methodological weaknesses contained in these studies. These methodological problems in the literature are reviewed, and recommendations for future research are presented.
32Â citations
TL;DR: In eight cases of micropenis, the follow-up period was from childhood through adulthood (age range 22 to 31).
Abstract: In eight cases of micropenis, the follow-up period was from childhood through adulthood (age range 22 to 31). Topical treatment of the penis with testosterone propionate in childhood increased its size relative to the rest of the body before adolescence. In adolescence and adulthood, the penis with a prior history of treatment with testosterone (N = 5) had no size advantage over the untreated one (N = 3). Topical testosterone postponed the age of developing a coping strategy, but not the necessity of developing one. New data (N = 65) for the stretched length of the adult penis give a M +/- SD of 16.69 +/- 1.90 cm, or 6.57 +/- .75 inches.
TL;DR: The more religious the student the less sex was considered contributory to the relationship and the acceptance of abortion declined, but even among religious female students 48% chose abortions as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy.
Abstract: This study deals with the effect of the degree of religiosity on attitudes toward and experience with sex and contraception among university students. Students defined their religious beliefs on the poles from orthodox religion to opposed-to-religion. Data were gathered by an anonymous questionnaire on sexual activity, attitudes toward sex, unwanted pregnancy and contraception. Orthodox and observant students left questions on sex unanswered. Female students were sexually active and used contraception in inverse relationship to their degree of religiosity. There was no parallel finding for males. The more religious the student the less sex was considered contributory to the relationship and the acceptance of abortion declined, but even among religious female students 48% chose abortions as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy.
TL;DR: The results suggest that the WIQ is a useful assessment tool which may identify marital relationships that are not close, marital assessment may be useful in formulating a comprehensive treatment plan, and the sexual quality of marriage may operate independently of marital intimacy.
Abstract: Lack of intimacy in the marital relationship is hypothesized to be associated with the presence of symptoms of nonpsychotic emotional illness in one or both spouses. The development of the Waring Intimacy Questionnaire (WIQ) has furthered the understanding of the relationship between intimacy and illness. A clinical sample (n = 184) was compared to a nonclinical sample (n = 188) on both the quality and quantity of intimacy. The clinical sample reports significantly lower intimacy [F (1, 370) = 37.5, p < 001] and is deficient on almost all aspects of intimacy described, except sexuality. The results suggest that 1) the WIQ is a useful assessment tool which may identify marital relationships that are not close, 2) marital assessment may be useful in formulating a comprehensive treatment plan, and 3) the sexual quality of marriage may operate independently of marital intimacy.
TL;DR: Female sexual response differs from what is known about male adaptation to CABG in three ways: women did not demonstrate a significant and profound decline in frequency of intercourse one year after surgery, and the component most vulnerable to disruption in women is desire, in men it is arousal.
Abstract: This paper reports the first study of female sexual, psychological, and vocational adaptation to coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Semistructured interviews were used to obtain data on 17 women undergoing CABG. Four time periods were examined: prior to and after the onset of cardiac symptoms; four months and one year after CABG. Female sexual response differs from what is known about male adaptation to CABG in three ways: 1) women did not demonstrate a significant and profound decline in frequency of intercourse one year after surgery; 2) the component most vulnerable to disruption in women is desire, in men it is arousal; 3) women do not harbor the sexual fears commonly seen in men such as sudden death during intercourse or performance anxiety. Psychologically, women fared better than men, but were less likely to return to work. This indicates that more attention should be directed toward vocational counseling of working women undergoing CABG.
TL;DR: The extramarital crisis situation is defined and six common themes presented, which constitute a general profile from which therapists can formulate specific client assessments and Therapy implications are dealt with for each theme.
Abstract: The extramarital crisis situation is defined and six common themes presented. These distinguishing features: cognitive and emotional turmoil, unresolved relationship issues, defensiveness, pressures related to the extramarital partner(s), search for an interpretive framework, and decisions about the future, are elaborated in terms of existing literature in the field of extramarital sex. The six themes constitute a general profile from which therapists can formulate specific client assessments. Therapy implications are dealt with for each theme and collectively represent an approach to extramarital crises and a summarization of existing clinical strategies. Some research data is presented as further verification of the six-theme framework.
TL;DR: Individuals over 50 who sought evaluation in a Sexual Behaviors Clinic were studied and commonly male, the group displayed high rates of both organic and psychiatric disorders.
Abstract: Individuals over 50 who sought evaluation in a Sexual Behaviors Clinic were studied. Commonly male, the group displayed high rates of both organic and psychiatric disorders. Self-referred males were more likely to have psychogenic causes for their complaints.
TL;DR: This study tests two theories regarding the attitude and behavioral determinants of women's coital and masturbatory orgasmic responsiveness and found that attitudes predicted behavior and, in general, clitoral responsiveness tended to be a function of behavior.
Abstract: This study tests two theories regarding the attitude and behavioral determinants of women's coital and masturbatory orgasmic responsiveness. Data from 115 sexually active women were analyzed using latent-variable structural equation models. Twenty-one variables are used to represent seven latent constructs: Parent Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Latency, Sexual Behavior, Dating Competence, Social Assertiveness, Subjective Masturbatory Responsiveness, and Subjective Coital Responsiveness. Two specific theories are tested with these constructs. Each theory predicts a different structural arrangement among these latent factors with the fundamental difference being whether behavior predicts responsiveness or vice-versa. Two alternate models were found to reflect the data adequately. In both instances, altitudes predicted behavior and, in general, orgasmic responsiveness tended to be a function of behavior.
TL;DR: Analysis of male data revealed that with the exceptions of estimates of mate satisfaction and marital happiness, all other variables measuring sexual behaviors and attitudes did not show significant changes over time, and women showed significant improvement over time in sexual satisfaction, acceptance of mate, and ability to achieve orgasm through a wider variety of means.
Abstract: The present status of 49 couples who three years previously had been evaluated but not treated at a clinic for sexual dysfunction was determined by a self-report assessment battery. The battery consisted of the Sexual Interaction Inventory, the Locke-Wallace Marriage Inventory and the Sexual History Form completed at initial evaluation and follow-up. An additional Follow-up Questionnaire was completed at post only. Approximately 52% of the men and 54% of the women reported receiving therapy during the period between initial intake and follow-up. Analysis of male data revealed that with the exceptions of estimates of mate satisfaction and marital happiness, all other variables measuring sexual behaviors and attitudes did not show significant changes over time. Men who received subsequent therapy reported significantly more erectile difficulty at both intake and follow-up than their nontreated counterparts. In contrast, women showed significant improvement over time in sexual satisfaction, acceptan...
TL;DR: In this article, correlations between female sex role and attitudes toward male sexual dysfunction in a sample of 30 women were reported, and the findings mirror those of a related much larger study.
Abstract: This paper reports correlations between female sex role and attitudes toward male sexual dysfunction in a sample of 30 women. The findings mirror those of a related much larger study. Mechanisms that might explain these findings are explored.
TL;DR: It is concluded that attitudinal changes in marital enrichment programs may be facilitated by optimal matching of different clients with the appropriate type of intervention, but that behavior changes are more a function of systematic skills training for all clients.
Abstract: Three approaches to marital enrichment were examined to determine if predictors of client gains could be identified empirically. Direct training of spousal communication skills by one of two male-female co-trainer teams, observation of videotaped simulations of direct training, and bibliotherapy with telephone contacts were the three approaches, and a wait-list control group was also evaluated. Clear predictive relationships emerged between initial indices of marital and family adjustment and prior experience with therapy, and client changes on self-report measures of marital and family adjustment. Different predictors and predictive relationships characterized each of the three different enrichment approaches, and prediction of outcome was more robust for these three trained groups than for the wait-list group. Changes in clients' communication behaviors were not well predicted, leading to the conclusion that attitudinal changes in marital enrichment programs may be facilitated by optimal matchi...
TL;DR: It is a pleasure to respond to the presentation of John Bancroft, whose work has provided a unique corpus of scientifically rigorous studies in human psychosexual endocrinology.
Abstract: It is a pleasure to respond to the presentation of John Bancroft, whose work has provided us with a unique corpus of scientifically rigorous studies in human psychosexual endocrinology.
TL;DR: The theory of gender transposition integrates findings regarding both prenatal hormonal programming of the sexual brain, and postnatal social programming in the genesis of homosexuality and heterosexuality.
Abstract: The genesis of homosexuality, and therefore of heterosexuality also, has traditionally been argued as either wholly biological or wholly social-environmental. The theory of gender transposition integrates findings regarding both prenatal hormonal programming of the sexual brain, and postnatal social programming.
TL;DR: This article provides lists of both authors and specific articles and books that are frequently cited in recent sex research, based on references in three major sex research journals for two complete years.
Abstract: Counting professional citations in the field of human sexology can yield an increased understanding of important clinical/research contributions, their authors and institutions, and central topics within an ever-increasing body of sexological information. This article provides lists of both authors and specific articles and books that are frequently cited in recent sex research. Frequency analyses were based on 4440 references in three major sex research journals for two complete years. Results are discussed in terms of citation patterns and their implications.
TL;DR: In sexology as science, except for the special case of introspection, on which the defense of mind-body dualism rests, raw data are obtained, like the raw data of all the other sciences, through the special senses and exteroceptive observation.
Abstract: In sexology as science, except for the special case of introspection, on which the defense of mind-body dualism rests, raw data are obtained, like the raw data of all the other sciences, through the special senses and exteroceptive observation. In Table 1 are shown the verbs and nouns that are needed to relate the five special senses of the observer to the observed, as stimuli are transmitted to their destination from their source. Some of these terms sound somewhat unidiomatic, which is no accident. It is precisely because vernacular English was not designed for scientific usage that some needed terms have been lacking--to the detriment of theoretical mindbody unity. Another missing term in sexology as science is a generic one for any type of unit of raw data. The gap can be filled with the new term, indicatron, in recognition of the fact that sexology's units of raw data all serve to indicate something. Since exactly the same applies to the raw data of any science, then sexology and the other sciences share the same premise. The sociopsychological and the biomedical sciences from which sexology conjointly derives are not separated as being of the mind and the body respectively. They are unified in indicatronics, the science of indicatrons, in which the split between body and mind is semantically irrelevant. The indicatrons of sexology can be classified under five universal exigencies of being human: being pairbonded, troopbonded, abidant, yclept, and foredoomed.
TL;DR: The purpose of this communication is to review recent marital trends in Japan, especially with reference to similar trends in the USA, and an attempt has been made to recalculate Japanese statistics to make them more comparable with US ones.
Abstract: The purpose of this communication is to review recent marital trends in Japan, especially with reference to similar trends in the USA. Marital statistics can be difficult to interpret, especially since they are often calculated using differing methods. Where possible, an attempt has been made to recalculate Japanese statistics to make them more comparable with US ones.