Consequences of impaired female sexual functioning: Individual differences and associations with sexual distress

Abstract

A number of risk factors for sexual distress have been identified, including impairments in sexual function. However, for women, sexual function is only weakly associated with distress levels in many cases. One reason for this disconnect may be that impaired sexual function can have a variety of consequences for the individual's sexual experience and that some consequences may be more or less distressing to different people. Research suggests that some consequences of impaired sexual function may be more distressing to older women and/or for women in longer or less satisfying relationships. To examine the association between consequences of impaired female sexual function and distress, 75 women reporting one or more recurrent difficulties with sexual function in the past month were assessed. Frequency of sexual consequences including decreased physical pleasure, decreased sexual frequency, and negative partner emotional responses, were associated with sexual distress after controlling for the effects of sexual function. Additionally, a number of sexual consequences were rated as more distressing by older women and women in unsatisfying relationships. The idiosyncratic ways in which impairments in sexual function play out in the context of sexual activity may be an important target of future research and clinical interventions for sexual dysfunction.

Keywords:

• sexual distress
• sexual functioning
• female sexual dysfunction

Notes

1. This criterion may have biased the sample by excluding women who were unable to engage in sexual activity; however, the requirement was necessary given our aim of assessing the consequences of impaired sexual functioning that occurred during or immediately following sexual activity.