Emotional Dysregulation: Concurrent Relation to Sexual Problems Among Trauma-Exposed Adult Cigarette Smokers

Abstract

Despite the documented association between trauma exposure and sexual problems (sexual dissatisfaction and sexual functioning), only a paucity of studies have investigated possible mechanisms underlying this association. The present study tested the role of emotion dysregulation in regard to levels of sexual dissatisfaction and functioning among a sample of 43 trauma-exposed cigarette smokers (17 women; M_age = 20.20, SD = 10.87). When controlling for negative affectivity, type of trauma (sexual vs. nonsexual), daily smoking rate, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and anxiety sensitivity, emotion dysregulation provided an independent and unique contribution to sexual dissatisfaction but not to sexual function. These preliminary findings suggest that emotion dysregulation may be more important to understanding certain sexual problems (dissatisfaction) among cigarette-smoking trauma survivors than previously recognized, and this topic is, therefore, worthy of further investigation.

This paper was supported by a National Institute of Drug Abuse National Research Service Award (1 F31 DA021006-02) granted to Anka A. Vujanovic, 3 National Institute on Drug Abuse research grants (1 R01 DA018734-01A1, 1 R03 DA016566-01A2, and 1 R21 DA016227-01) awarded to Dr. Zvolensky, and a National Institute of Mental Health grant (1 R01 MH076629-01) awarded to Dr. Zvolensky.