Brief Emotion Regulation Training Facilitates Arousal Control During Sexual Stimuli

Abstract

Disgust, a negative emotion which evokes strong behavioral avoidance tendencies, has been associated with sexual dysfunction. Recently, it was postulated that healthy sexual functioning requires a balance between excitatory (increased sexual arousal) and inhibitory processes (lowered disgust levels). This suggests that amplification of excitatory processes (like sexual arousal) could be a valuable addition to treatments for affect-based sexual dysfunctions. The major aim of the present study was to establish whether up-regulation could effectively enhance arousal levels during sexual stimuli, and whether such a training would simultaneously reduce disgust. Students (N = 163, mean age = 20.73 years, SD = 2.35) were trained in up-regulation of affect using either a sexual arousal film (i.e., female-friendly erotic movie) or a threat arousal film clip (i.e., horror movie), while control groups viewed the films without training instructions. Following this, participants viewed and rated state emotions during a series of pictures (sexual, disgusting, or neutral). Up-regulation of mood successfully enhanced general arousal in both groups, yet these arousal levels were not paralleled by reductions in disgust. Overall, the findings indicate that emotion regulation training by maximizing positive affect and general arousal could be an effective instrument to facilitate affect-related disturbances in sexual dysfunctions.

The authors wish to extend their gratitude to Sara Almeida for her efforts in the process of data acquisition.

Notes

¹Because some of the picture stimuli presented heterosexual activities, we additionally performed all analyses after excluding homosexual individuals from the analyses. The results of the analyses did not differ.

²For neutral stimuli, the corresponding IAPS numbers are: basket (7010), mug (7009), stool (7025), book (7090), lamp (7175), and an abstract art wall decoration (7185). For sexual stimuli, we used the following IAPS pictures: oral sex (4658, 4659) and a man lying on top of a woman (4669).

³All pictures are available from the corresponding author.

⁴Because women scored consistently higher on disgust (trait disgust and state disgust for the disgust pictures) compared to men, we additionally performed all analyses while correcting for gender. The findings were similar to the current analyses.