Attention Bias for Sexual Words in Female Sexual Dysfunction

Abstract

Cognitive models suggest that attention processes maintain sexual dysfunction. However, few published studies have examined attention bias, and even fewer have studied female participants with sexual dysfunction. Using the Female Sexual Function Index, the authors classified undergraduates as experiencing sexual dysfunction (n = 28) or not (n = 28). The authors assessed whether participants showed attention bias for sexual words using a modified dot-probe task. As expected, female participants with sexual dysfunction showed an attention bias to sexual words, whereas control participants did not. The authors discuss implications for models of sexual dysfunction and clinical intervention.

Notes

Scoring the FSFI is problematic for women who did not engage in sexual activity over the past four weeks (see Meyer-Bahlburg & Dolezal, 2007). In the current study, a proportion of the FSD group comprised women who reportedly had not engaged in sexual activity (n = 15). Thus, we examined the effect of this group on the results in several ways. First, we examined the sexual desire domain scores of women reporting no sexual activity to determine whether they belonged in the FSD group. Women with no sexual activity reported significantly lower sexual desire than the non-FSD group (p ≤ .001), and importantly they did not differ from the FSD group in level of desire (p ≥ .6). Thus, we can assume that these participants did not engage in sexual activity in part due to low desire. Second, we compared the FSD and non-FSD groups' attention bias scores after removing participants reporting no sexual activity. The new FSD group bias score (13.0) remained similar in magnitude to the original FSD group (14.0). Finally, we re-analyzed the data following a recommendation by Meyer-Bahlburg and Dolezal (2007) to assign zero categories ('no sexual activity') as missing values. Comparing the new FSD and non-FSD groups using this method did not change the pattern of results (FSD bias score = 10; non-FSD bias score = −5; p = .07).

We also examined data from filler trials that included only neutral words. Groups' reaction times did not differ on these trials (ps ≥ .1).