A qualitative exploration of the distress experienced by long-term heterosexual couples when women have low sexual desire

Abstract

Despite growing research interest investigating sexual desire disorders, little is known or understood about the impact on individuals, their partners, and their relationship functioning. The objective of the current study was to explore and describe the nature and types of distress, as well as the consequences of, low sexual desire for women and their higher desire partners. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaire measures were conducted with 26 participants (13 couples) between the ages of 18 and 47 years (average age 31.8 years) in long-term heterosexual relationships (average duration 8 years 10 months). Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts suggested 29 conceptually distinct forms of distress and consequence described by participants. The findings from this study indicate that the distress resulting from low sexual desire is complex and multi-faceted, with important research and clinical implications. Of particular interest was the finding that the qualitative nature of the individual and relationship distress experienced by both men and women is strikingly similar.

Keywords:

• Sexual desire
• qualitative research
• sexual distress
• relationships

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the participants for their time and willingness to help others. This research is supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship.