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The Effect of Pre-Existing Affect on the Sexual Responses of Women With and Without a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

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Abstract

Women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at greater risk for experiencing sexual problems in their adult lives. Yet, little is known about the possible role of cognitive and affective mechanisms in the development of sexual arousal difficulties in this population. This study investigated the role of pre-existing affect (affect prior to exposure to sexual stimuli) on genital responses, subjective sexual arousal, and affect elicited during the presentation of erotic film excerpts in a community sample of 25 women with and 25 women without a history of CSA. The CSA group showed greater pre-existing negative affect and smaller genital responses to the erotic film stimuli compared to the NSA group. Findings support a moderating effect of CSA, in that pre-existing negative affect was associated with strength of genital responses in the NSA but not in the CSA group. The results did not support a mediation model of pre-existing negative affect as an explanation for smaller physiological sexual responses in the CSA group. Taken together, the findings suggest that pre-existing affect may be more relevant for women with no history of CSA and call for more research on factors implicated in impaired sexual responses in women with a history of CSA.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported, in part, by Grant Number R01 HD51676 from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to Cindy M. Meston and by the training Grant Number F31 MH68165 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Alessandra Rellini and Cindy Meston, and by the McNeil Prevention and Community Psychology Fund to Alessandra Rellini. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors would like to thank Dr. Dianna Murray-Close and Dr. Keith Burt for their statistical consultation, and Carolyn Dundon, Saiful Islam, and Sarah Roberts for their contribution to data collection and data processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, John Dewey Hall, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT, 05401, USA

    Alessandra H. Rellini & Samantha Elinson

  2. The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Erick Janssen

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Cindy M. Meston

Authors
  1. Alessandra H. Rellini
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  2. Samantha Elinson
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  3. Erick Janssen
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  4. Cindy M. Meston
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Correspondence to Alessandra H. Rellini.

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Rellini, A.H., Elinson, S., Janssen, E. et al. The Effect of Pre-Existing Affect on the Sexual Responses of Women With and Without a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Arch Sex Behav 41, 329–339 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9772-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9772-y

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