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Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between dimensions of borderline personality organization (as assessed according to Kernberg's model), sexual dysfunctions, and paraphilic interest in a community sample of women. Two hundred and sixty-six healthy women were asked to complete a set of questionnaires including the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO), the Italian version of the Female Sexual Function Index, and a checklist to assess the prevalence of paraphilic interests. Results showed that women with sexual dysfunctions and paraphilic interests are characterized by higher scores on three out of four IPO subscales: Instability of self/others, Instability of behavior, and Psychosis. The results provide evidence of a possible connection between borderline personality organization and sexual life and support the need for a thorough assessment of personality functioning in patients with sexual problems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Results of this study were presented, in a preliminary form, at the 16th Congress of the European Society of Sexual Medicine (ESSM), Istanbul, Turkey, January 29–February 1, 2014, and published in the conference proceedings (A. Prunas, R. Bernorio, S. Di Santo, and G. Mori, “Personality organization, sexual dysfunctions and quality of sexual life,” Journal of Sexual Medicine, 11(Suppl. 1): 85).