Longitudinal associations between relational and sexual well-being in couples transitioning to parenthood.

There is limited understanding of the dynamic between relational and sexual well-being as couples adjust to new parenthood, despite this being a vulnerable period for couples' relationships. This study was aimed at examining the bidirectional links between relationship quality and sexual well-being (i.e.

Longitudinal associations between mindfulness and changes to body image in first-time parent couples.

Pregnancy and postpartum are associated with declines in body image. Research on postpartum body image focuses almost exclusively on the person who gave birth and studies examining protective factors for postpartum body image are scarce. We assessed 257 new-parent couples from mid-pregnancy to 6-months postpartum to examine whether mindfulness-a recognized contributor to psychological well-being-buffered against declines in both partners' perceptions of mothers' body.

Biopsychosocial Predictors of Couples' Trajectories of Sexual Function and Sexual Distress Across the Transition to Parenthood.

The prevailing narrative about sexual declines during the transition to parenthood is largely based on studies assessing the average couple, but there is increasing evidence of variability in the sexual well-being of new parents. We sought to establish distinct subgroups of couples based on sexual function and sexual distress trajectories and examine biopsychosocial risk and protective factors of these trajectories. A prospective cohort of 257 first-time parent couples reported on sexual function and sexual distress from 20-week pregnancy (baseline) to 6 months postpartum across four time-points.

Sexual violence history predicts changes in vaginal immune parameters during sexual arousal.

Objective: To examine the influence of sexual arousal on vaginal mucosal inflammatory cytokine and antibody production in healthy women with and without histories of childhood and/or adult sexual violence.

Methods: Ninety-one premenopausal healthy women (ages 18-42) attended a single laboratory session in which they provided vaginal fluid samples before and after viewing one neutral and one erotic film. While viewing the films, participants' vaginal sexual arousal was recorded using vaginal photoplethysmography.

Inflammation Predicts Sexual Arousability in Healthy Women.

Background: Though many women report sexual arousal difficulties, the mechanisms driving these difficulties are unclear. Sexual response relies on a host of psychophysiological processes that have bidirectional relationships with inflammation. Additionally, chronic inflammation may impair genital blood flow, which in turn may impact sexual arousal.

Is Expectant Couples' Similarity in Attitudes to Sex during Pregnancy Linked to Their Sexual Well-being? A Dyadic Study with Response Surface Analysis.

Despite sexual activity being safe for the majority of expectant couples (i.e., the pregnant individual and their partner), negative attitudes toward having sex during pregnancy are common and are related to lower sexual well-being across this vulnerable life period.

Validation of the Maternal and Partner Sex During Pregnancy Scales (MSP/PSP) in Portugal: Assessing Dyadic Interdependence and Associations with Sexual Behaviors.

Background: The Maternal and Partner Sex During Pregnancy Scales (MSP/PSP) are self-report measures of expectant couples' attitudes towards sex during pregnancy.

Aim: This study aimed to examine dyadic non-independence of MSP/PSP scores in a sample of expectant couples, while providing an evaluation of factor structure, validity, and reliability of the Portuguese versions of the MSP/PSP. The association between partners' attitudes and frequency of sexual behaviors was also examined.

Neural mechanisms of sexual decision-making in women with alcohol use disorder.

Rationale: The co-occurrence of alcohol consumption and sexual activity is associated with increased risk for sexual assault, sexually transmitted disease, and unplanned pregnancy among young adult women with alcohol use disorder (AUD). There is considerable previous work demonstrating neural reactivity to alcohol cues in AUD. Because alcohol consumption and sexual behavior are both rewarding and tend to co-occur, sexual cues may produce similar neural reactivity in women with AUD, possibly indicating a shared mechanism underlying reactivity to both types of cues.

The Impact of Sexual Arousal and Emotion Regulation on Men's Sexual Aggression Proclivity.

Extant literature supports a relationship between sexual arousal and increased likelihood of sexually coercive behavior in men. The present study investigated the impact of sexual arousal on sexual coercion proclivity and the degree to which emotion regulation moderated this relationship in the context of two separate affect inductions. We predicted that sexual arousal would more strongly predict sexual coercion likelihood for men scoring lower on emotion regulation ability compared with men with above average emotion regulation abilities.

The Successful Measurement of Clitoral Pulse Amplitude Using a New Clitoral Photoplethysmograph: A Pilot Study.

Background: Although the clitoris is more sensitive to stimulation and its innervation more conducive to sensory feedback than the vagina, the field of sexual psychophysiology, which uses psychophysiological methods including genital response measures to study sexual arousal, relies heavily on the measurement of vaginal, rather than clitoral, pulse amplitude.

Aim: To develop and test a new clitoral photoplethysmograph for the measurement of clitoral pulse amplitude (CPA).

Methods: 2 versions of the new device, which differed in the orientation of the sensor and light source (parallel vs angled), were tested in 15 premenopausal, sexually functional women.

Neural correlates of emotion processing comparing antidepressants and exogenous oxytocin in postpartum depressed women: An exploratory study.

Despite common use of antidepressants to treat postpartum depression, little is known about the impact of antidepressant use on postpartum brain activity. Additionally, although oxytocin has been investigated as a potential treatment for postpartum depression, the interaction between antidepressants and exogenous oxytocin on brain activity is unknown. We explored postpartum depressed women's neural activation in areas identified as important to emotion and reward processing and potentially, antidepressant response: the amygdala, nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area.

Sexual frequency and pain in a randomized clinical trial of vaginal estradiol tablets, moisturizer, and placebo in postmenopausal women.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of two common interventions for bothersome postmenopausal vaginal symptoms on improving sexual frequency and pain.

Methods: This is a post-hoc analysis of data from a 12-week double-blind placebo-controlled trial that randomized postmenopausal women (ages 45-70 years) with moderate-severe genitourinary discomfort to vaginal 10 μg estradiol tablet plus placebo gel (n = 102), placebo tablet plus vaginal moisturizer (n = 100), or dual placebo (n = 100). Outcomes were proportion of sexually active women at 12 weeks, frequency of sexual activity, and pain severity with sexual activity (0-3 scale).

Physiological predictors of leptin vary during menses and ovulation in healthy women.

Although research has shown interactions between the reproductive system and energy homeostasis, it is not clear how environmental or behavioral factors may factor into these associations. Here we aimed to determine how changes in reproductive state (i.e.

Salivary Afternoon Cortisol and Relationship Status in Healthy Women with Regular Menstrual Cycles.

Although ovarian hormones and social relationships are known to interact with HPA axis regulation, evidence for systematic covariation with basal salivary cortisol levels remains mixed. As part of a larger study, in this analysis we pursued two questions. First, do baseline cortisol concentrations consistently vary across the menstrual cycle? Second, do cortisol levels differ by relationship status? We collected afternoon saliva samples at four points across the menstrual cycle from 14 single and 18 monogamously partnered women, ages 18 to 48, who were not taking hormonal medications.

Interactions Among Sexual Activity, Menstrual Cycle Phase, and Immune Function in Healthy Women.

Past research has found menstrual-cycle-related changes in functional immune response; we examined if sexual activity also changed markers of immune defense. We followed 32 naturally cycling women (15 sexually active with a partner ≥ 1 time/week, 17 sexually abstinent for the last four months) over one menstrual cycle. Participants provided serum and saliva samples at menses and ovulation, and additional saliva samples at midfollicular and midluteal phases.

Child Sexual Abuse and Negative Affect as Shared Risk Factors for Sexual Aggression and Sexual HIV Risk Behavior in Heterosexual Men.

Previous research has suggested that sexually aggressive behavior and sexual HIV risk behavior are associated. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a well-established risk factor for both types of problematic sexual behavior. Negative affect (i.

Sexual vs. Nonsexual Currently Most Upsetting Trauma: A Fresh Look at Attenuation of Sexual Response, Alcohol Intoxication, and Post-Traumatic Stress.

This study examined the dependence of sexual response (vaginal pulse amplitude [VPA] and subjective sexual arousal) on alcohol intoxication (.10% breath alcohol concentration [BrAC] versus no alcohol) and the nature of a woman's currently most upsetting traumatic event (C-MUTE), whether it was sexual (e.g.

Affect and Sexual Responsivity in Men With and Without a History of Sexual Aggression.

Despite increased attention to understanding risk factors for sexual aggression, knowledge regarding the emotional and sexual arousal patterns of sexually aggressive men remains limited. The current study examined whether sexually aggressive men exhibit unique profiles of affective responsivity, in particular to negatively valenced stimuli, as well as sexual arousal patterns that differentiate them from nonaggressive men. We presented 78 young men (38 sexually aggressive; 40 nonaggressive) with a series of videos designed to induce positive, sad, or anxious affect.

In-The-Moment Dissociation, Emotional Numbing, and Sexual Risk: The Influence of Sexual Trauma History, Trauma Symptoms, and Alcohol Intoxication.

Objective: Prior research on the effects of sexual trauma has examined dissociation but not emotional numbing during sex and has relied exclusively on retrospective surveys. The present experiment examined associations among distal factors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA), and trauma symptoms and the proximal factor of acute alcohol intoxication on in-the-moment dissociation, emotional numbing, and sexual risk intentions.

Method: Young adult female drinkers ( = 436) at elevated sexual risk were randomized to receive alcohol (target peak breath alcohol concentration = .

Partnered sexual activity moderates menstrual cycle-related changes in inflammation markers in healthy women: an exploratory observational study.

Objective: To examine differences in inflammation markers in sexually active versus abstinent women and observe changes in inflammation markers across the menstrual cycle. Cycle-related immune fluctuations may have evolved to reduce interference with conception. If so, reproductively active (i.

Testosterone and immune-reproductive tradeoffs in healthy women.

Although testosterone (T) has been characterized as universally immunosuppressive across species and sexes, recent ecoimmunology research suggests that T's immunomodulatory effects (enhancing/suppressing) depend on the organism's reproductive context. Very little is known about the immune effects of T in healthy females, and even less about how reproductive effort modulates the immune effects of T in humans. We investigated how the interaction between endogenous T and sexual activity predicted menstrual cycle-related changes in several measures of immunity: inflammation (indexed by interleukin-6, IL-6), adaptive immunity (indexed by immunoglobulin A, IgA), and functional immunity (indexed by bactericidal assay).

Female Sexual Function Index Short Version: A MsFLASH Item Response Analysis.

The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is a psychometrically sound and popular 19-item self-report measure, but its length may preclude its use in studies with multiple outcome measures, especially when sexual function is not a primary endpoint. Only one attempt has been made to create a shorter scale, resulting in the Italian FSFI-6, later translated into Spanish and Korean without further psychometric analysis. Our study evaluated whether a subset of items on the 19-item English-language FSFI would perform as well as the full-length FSFI in peri- and postmenopausal women.

Women's Sex-Related Dissociation: The Effects of Alcohol Intoxication, Attentional Control Instructions, and History of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

This study examined influences of alcohol intoxication, attentional control, and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) severity on sex-related dissociation. Sex-related dissociation is defined here as dissociation (e.g.