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Effects of Sexual Arousal on Genital and Non-Genital Sensation: A Comparison of Women with Vulvar Vestibulitis Syndrome and Healthy Controls

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Abstract

The relationship between sexual arousal and sensory perception has been a topic largely neglected within the realm of human sexuality research. The present study assessed the influence of sexual arousal on genital and non-genital sensation in women. It also examined the theory that painful intercourse is associated with insufficient sexual arousal. A total of 20 healthy women and 20 women with Vulvar Vestibulitis Syndrome (VVS) underwent genital and non-genital sensory testing at baseline and in response to erotic and neutral stimulus films. Touch and pain thresholds were assessed at the vulvar vestibule, inside the labia minora, and on the volar surface of the forearm. Sexual arousal was assessed via the measurement of surface skin temperature changes of the labia minora using a labial thermistor clip. Participants also completed questionnaires pertaining to mood, pain, and sexual functioning. In response to the erotic stimulus, both groups evidenced a significant increase in physiological sexual arousal and vulvar sensitivity. Women with VVS reported a significantly lower desire to engage in intercourse after having viewed the erotic film and reported lower levels of desire and arousal on questionnaire measures. Women with VVS also exhibited significantly more genital and non-genital pain sensitivity than healthy women across all conditions, in addition to more catastrophizing, hypervigilance, and fear of pain. Contrary to some theories, these data suggest that women with VVS are not lacking in physiological sexual arousal, and that physiological sexual arousal may actually increase vulvar sensation. Lack of subjective sexual arousal, however, may yet be implicated in vulvar pain during intercourse.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research Grant #14741 to Yitzchak M. Binik, and by training fellowships provided by the McGill University Health Center, McGill Majors fellowship, and the Canadian Institute for Health Research awarded to Kimberley A. Payne. This article stands in partial fulfillment of Ms. Payne’s Ph.D. requirements. We would like to thank Katherine Muldoon, Lindsay Voegelin, and Anita Kapuscinski for their assistance with this project. We would also like to thank Dr. Sophie Bergeron, Dr. Nicole Flory, Marie-Andrée Lahaie, Alina Kao, and Melissa Farmer for their thoughtful feedback in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, H3A 1B1, Quebec, Canada

    Kimberley A. Payne, Yitzchak M. Binik & Rhonda Amsel

  2. Sex and Couple Therapy Service, Department of Psychology, McGill University Health Center (Royal Victoria Hospital), Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Yitzchak M. Binik

  3. Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Caroline F. Pukall

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

    Lea Thaler

  5. Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Samir Khalifé

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  1. Kimberley A. Payne
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  2. Yitzchak M. Binik
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Correspondence to Yitzchak M. Binik.

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List of questionnaire measures and their abbreviations

   
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Payne, K.A., Binik, Y.M., Pukall, C.F. et al. Effects of Sexual Arousal on Genital and Non-Genital Sensation: A Comparison of Women with Vulvar Vestibulitis Syndrome and Healthy Controls. Arch Sex Behav 36, 289–300 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9089-4

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