Understanding motivations for sexual communication from a regulatory focus perspective.

Despite the overwhelming support for the importance of sexual communication to intimate relationships, there is limited information about what motivates someone to engage in or avoid sexual communication. Motivational frameworks have been applied to various aspects of intimate relationships, serving as strong predictors of different behavioural processes and playing a crucial role in facilitating behavioural change. As such, we aimed to elucidate the motivations for sexual communication and explore how they relate to other aspects of the process of sexual communication.

The Role of Emotional Processes in Explaining the Link Between Severity of Childhood Maltreatment and Relationship Difficulties.

Up to 32% of adults have experienced some form of childhood maltreatment (CM). Research has shown that these early childhood experiences are associated with a variety of interpersonal difficulties in adult sexual and romantic relationships. Polusny and Follette have suggested that these negative long-term effects are the result of emotional avoidance strategies that individuals use to cope with thoughts, feelings, and memories associated with CM.

Perceived barriers and rewards to sexual consent communication: A qualitative analysis.

Increasingly, affirmative consent - direct, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity (Craig & McKinley, 2015) - is the standard being adopted by educational institutions in North America (Bennett, 2016). Yet, studies show that most individuals continue to communicate consent through nonresistance (Jozkowski et al., 2014a).

Couple Communication Behaviors During Sexual and Nonsexual Discussions and Their Association with Relationship Satisfaction.

The quality of communication between romantic partners has consistently been found to be associated with relationship well-being and stability. Studies on sexual and nonsexual communication, however, have typically assessed communication skills and behaviors using self-report measures. The use of observational methods has several advantages, including the ability to capture and allow for the independent coding of both partners' communication behaviors.

The link between oxytocin plasma levels and observed communication behaviors during sexual and nonsexual couple discussions: An exploratory study.

The role of oxytocin (OT) in close relationships is complex, as both positive and negative associations have been found between OT and relationship processes. Also, with most research focusing on the effects of exogenous OT administration on communication and couple behaviors, our knowledge about the association between endogenous OT and couple dynamics remains limited. This study is the first to assess the link between peripheral OT levels and observed communication behaviors during sexual and nonsexual conflict discussions in romantic relationships.

Vanishing Bone As the Presenting Feature of Multiple Myeloma.

A 47-year-old female presented with a minimally displaced fracture of proximal one-third of the shaft of the humerus that she suffered two months before and managed conservatively with a Plaster of Paris (POP) slab. An X-ray performed after six weeks showed complete vanishing of the proximal third portion of humerus due to massive osteolysis and generalized osteopenia. On examination, there was a soft tissue swelling over the proximal part of the left arm with painful and limited range of motion of the left shoulder.

Evaluation of an Intergenerational and Technological Intervention for Loneliness: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Social integration and mental health are vital aspects of healthy aging. However, close to half of Canadians older than 80 years report feeling socially isolated. Research has shown that social isolation leads to increased mortality and morbidity, and various interventions have been studied to alleviate loneliness among older adults.

A Typology of Women with Low Sexual Desire.

Low sexual desire is the most common sexual issue reported by women and research suggests that the presentation and experience of low sexual desire may vary considerably between women. This study explored whether women with low desire differ qualitatively from one another based on several key contextual factors theoretically associated with low desire. We collected data from women in long-term relationships (N = 508) using an online platform.

Talocalcaneal Coalition With Os Sustentaculum: Rare Cause for Foot Pain Demonstrated on 99mTc-HDP SPECT/CT.

Os sustentaculi is a rare accessory bone of the foot located along the posterior end of sustentaculum tali. It is a component type of extra-articular talocalcaneal coalition. We report the case of a 17-year-old boy with symptomatic os sustentaculum with talocalcaneal coalition diagnosed on Tc-HDP SPECT/CT.

A Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Problems in Long-Term Heterosexual Relationships.

Background: Although much research has described individual sexual dysfunctions, few studies to date have examined the types of problems that couples consider most significant in their sexual relationships.

Aim: To clarify the types of relational sexual problems that are most common and most severe in the sexual lives of individuals in long-term romantic relationships.

Methods: A community sample of 117 mixed-sex couples completed this in-lab study.

Viewing Sexual Desire as Stable Versus Fluid: The Impact of Implicit Beliefs on Women's Coping With Sexual Desire Problems.

Our goal was to examine how implicit theories can be applied to understanding women's coping responses to sexual problems. The belief that sexual desire changes over time is a type of incremental theory, while the belief that sexual desire is stable is a type of entity theory (Dweck, 2012 ). We examined how different implicit theories of sexual desire influence how women cope with sexual desire challenges.

How Is Sexual Communication Different from Nonsexual Communication? A Moment-by-Moment Analysis of Discussions Between Romantic Partners.

Our goal was to investigate whether systematic differences exist in how couples discuss sexual versus nonsexual conflicts in their relationships and to explore the nature of these differences. We compared sexual and nonsexual conflict discussions on two key dimensions of interpersonal behavior: warmth and dominance. Past theoretical work suggests that there are unique barriers to sexual communication that lead partners to perceive such communication as being more threatening to the relationship and to the self (Metts & Cupach, 1989).

The Influence of Attachment Styles on Sexual Communication Behavior.

Attachment theory is one of the major theoretical frameworks for understanding romantic relationships. Attachment styles are formed through interactions with caregivers and shape an individual's expectations of subsequent interpersonal relationships. In this study, we examined how attachment styles influence participants' ability to communicate with their partners about problems in their sexual relationship.

How do depressive symptoms in husbands and wives relate to the interpersonal dynamics of marital interactions?

We investigated how depressive symptoms in husbands and wives may affect patterns of interpersonal behavior during marital conflict discussions. Using the Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics (CAID) approach, observers rated moment-to-moment levels of dominance and affiliation for each partner, from which dynamic indices were derived, including the slopes for each partner and the degree of rhythmic entrainment between partners. Results supported predictions that the wife's depressive symptoms would be related to alterations in the dynamics of dominance, whereas the husband's depressive symptoms would be related to alterations in the dynamics of affiliation.

The longitudinal association of relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction in long-term relationships.

Several prominent models of relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction imply directional relationships between these constructs (e.g., attachment theory, social exchange models of relationship satisfaction, the interpersonal exchange model of sexual satisfaction).

An Interpersonal Investigation of Sexual Self-Schemas.

A sexual self-schema is a cognitive generalization about sexual aspects of the self. In the current study, we examined how an individual's sexual self-schema influenced the processing of self and partner related sexual information. Specifically, we investigated how sexual self-schemas related to own and partner sexual satisfaction and how they influenced perceptions of partner sexual satisfaction.

How your executive functioning impacts me: Findings from a normative sample of older couples.

Although executive functioning (EF) has implications for one's emotional functioning and interpersonal behavior, and EF skills become more variable as we age, little research has investigated whether normative age-related changes in EF impact social-emotional outcomes in close others. The current study used a dyadic approach to examine the impact of individual differences in core aspects of EF on indices of well-being in 91 married or cohabiting couples aged 55 years and older. Participants in each dyad completed EF tasks of inhibition, working memory, and task switching, control tasks of language and short-term memory (STM) in which EF demands were comparatively minimal, and self-report measures of depression and quality of life.

Actor-Partner Effects and the Differential Roles of Depression and Anxiety in Intimate Relationships: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the differential roles of depression and anxiety in intimate relationship satisfaction, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Method: The cross-sectional sample comprised 70 couples, of which 48 couples also participated at follow-up. All couples completed measures of relationship satisfaction and symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Perceptions of partner sexual satisfaction in heterosexual committed relationships.

Sexual script theory implies that partners' ability to gauge one another's level of sexual satisfaction is a key factor in determining their own sexual satisfaction. However, relatively little research has examined how well partners gauge one another's sexual satisfaction and the factors that predict their accuracy. We hypothesized that the degree of bias in partner judgments of sexual satisfaction would be associated with quality of sexual communication.

Development and validation of the response to sexual difficulties scale.

Leading models of sexual dysfunction, such as those proposed by Masters and Johnson (1970), Barlow (1986), and Janssen, Everaerd, Spiering, and Janssen (2000), emphasize the role of anxiety and self-monitoring in the development and persistence of sexual difficulties. These models have considerable explanatory power, but focus on the intrapersonal factors that yield anxiety and self-monitoring. Accounting for the interpersonal context in which sexual activity occurs is also likely to be important.