The aim of this study was to make an assessment of the role of the cognitive component in the development of sexual dysfunction.
Past studies have largely focused on the impact of particular events on sexual dysfunction and have not assessed the role of the perception of these events. A number of theories on sexual dysfunction have been developed to explain the influence of cognitions, but these have not been empirically tested.
This study investigated the role of the cognitive evaluation of sexual experiences among 30 sexually dysfunctional participants and 30 control participants who were matched on age, marital status and biological sex.
The Cognitive Aspects of Sexual Dysfunction Measure (CASDM) was constructed to evaluate sexual dysfunction. This measure was designed to tap into the major events in participants lives and, more importantly, the participants perceptions of these events.
The components assessed were the intergenerational (family of origin), individual, current life and relationship aspects of the persons life. These factors were measured from the responses to questions regarding the participant's cognitions about past experiences, the effect of the past experience on the participant at the lime it occurred and the influence this experience had on the participant's sense of self now, their relationship now and sexual functioning now.
The main findings in the intergenerational area were that past experiences were perceived by the sexually dysfunctional group to be having an impact on the self, relationships and their sexual functioning although there were no actual differences between the sexually functional and the sexual dysfunctional participants in the occurrence of the event.
For the individual factors, there were differences between the sexually functional and sexually dysfunctional participants in both values and lifestyle, although these were not perceived to be having an impact on the self, relationship and sexual functioning.
In the relationship area, anger was the major factor separating the sexually functional and sexually dysfunctional groups. Anger was high among the sexually dysfunctional participants and was perceived to be having an impact on self, the couples relationship and their sexual functioning. The importance of all these variables in providing a better understanding of the cognitive factors in sexual dysfunction was discussed. The findings demonstrate the importance of cognitions in influencing sexual functioning.
Clinicians should not simply deal with the life experiences of sexually dysfunctional people when attempting to change their behaviour, but should focus on changing cognitions about the behaviours in relation to sexual functioning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/217007 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Cobain, Marilyn Jeanette, mikewood@deakin.edu.au |
| Publisher | Deakin University. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.deakin.edu.au/disclaimer.html), Copyright Marilyn Jeanette Cobain |
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