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Effects of Experimentally Adopted Sexual Schemas on Vaginal Response and Subjective Sexual Arousal: A Comparison Between Women with Sexual Arousal Disorder and Sexually Healthy Women

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Abstract

The present study evaluated and compared the effects of experimentally adopted sexual schemas on vaginal response, subjective sexual arousal, and affect in 17 women with Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD) and 17 sexually healthy women. Positive and negative cognitive schemas were presented to participants before viewing sexually explicit video segments. They were asked to temporarily adopt both schemas, and vaginal response, subjective sexual arousal, and affect were measured in each schema condition. Participants in both groups had significantly greater vaginal response and reported more subjective sexual arousal in the positive schema condition than in the negative schema condition. Sexually healthy women demonstrated significantly higher subjective sexual arousal than women with FSAD, but there were no significant group differences in vaginal response. Moreover, participants in both groups reported higher levels of Positive Affect and Vigor in the positive schema condition than in the negative schema condition but higher levels of Negative Affect, Tension-Anxiety, and Anger-Hostility in the negative schema condition than in the positive schema condition. These findings demonstrate the impact of cognitions on sexual arousal, which has important implications for addressing cognitions in the treatment of FSAD. Moreover, these findings have implications for the conceptualization of FSAD, which may be best characterized as a complex, heterogeneous cluster of symptoms.

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Notes

  1. The reported results were obtained by using difference scores, as described in the methods section. Additional analyses were conducted on the VPA data using percent change scores (i.e., erotic-baseline/baseline). These analyses yielded a similar pattern of results. Moreover, baseline VPA data is often obtained before each experimental condition. However, in the present study, the reported results were obtained using initial baseline as the comparison point for both erotic conditions. Additional analyses were conducted using the neutral condition as the anchor for the second erotic condition. Differences scores and percent change scores were examined. These analyses yielded a similar pattern of results. The results from these alternative methods are available upon request from the first author at laurasmiddleton@yahoo.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Laura S. Middleton & Stephanie W. Kuffel

  2. Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Morrison Hall 313, 1165 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405-3700, USA

    Julia R. Heiman

Authors
  1. Laura S. Middleton
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  2. Stephanie W. Kuffel
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  3. Julia R. Heiman
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Correspondence to Julia R. Heiman.

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Middleton, L.S., Kuffel, S.W. & Heiman, J.R. Effects of Experimentally Adopted Sexual Schemas on Vaginal Response and Subjective Sexual Arousal: A Comparison Between Women with Sexual Arousal Disorder and Sexually Healthy Women. Arch Sex Behav 37, 950–961 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9310-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9310-0

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