Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Arch Sex Behav. 2011 Apr;40(2):395-406. doi: 10.1007/s10508-010-9693-1. Epub 2010 Dec 7.
According to Barlow's model of sexual dysfunction, anxiety in sexual situations leads to attentional focus on sexual performance at the expense of erotic cues, which compromises sexual arousal. This negative experience will enhance anxiety in future sexual situations, and non-erotic thoughts (NETs) relevant to performance will receive attentional priority. Previous research with student samples (Purdon & Holdaway, 2006; Purdon & Watson, 2010) has found that people experience many types of NETs in addition to performance-relevant thoughts, and that, consistent with Barlow's model, the frequency of and anxiety evoked by these thoughts is positively associated with sexual problems. Extending this previous work, the current study found that, in a community sample of women (N = 81) and men (N = 72) in long-term relationships, women were more likely to report body image concerns and external consequences of the sexual activity, while men were more likely to report performance-related concerns. Equally likely among men and women were thoughts about emotional consequences of the sexual activity. Regardless of thought content, experiencing more frequent NETs was associated with more sexual problems in both women and men. Moreover, as per Barlow's model, greater negative affect in anticipation of and during sexual activity predicted greater frequency of NETs and greater anxiety in response to NETs was associated with greater difficulty dismissing the thoughts. However, greater difficulty in refocusing on erotic thoughts during sexual activity uniquely predicted more sexual problems above the frequency and dismissability of NETs. Together, these data support the cognitive interference mechanism implicated by Barlow's causal model of sexual dysfunction and have implications for the treatment of sexual problems.
根据巴洛的性功能障碍模型，性情境中的焦虑会导致注意力集中在性表现上，而忽略性唤起的线索，从而损害性唤起。这种负面体验会增加未来性情境中的焦虑，与表现相关的非性想法（NETs）将获得注意力优先。先前对学生样本的研究（Purdon 和 Holdaway，2006；Purdon 和 Watson，2010）发现，人们除了与表现相关的想法之外，还会经历许多类型的 NETs，并且这些想法的频率和引起的焦虑与性问题呈正相关，这与巴洛的模型一致。扩展这一先前的工作，本研究发现，在长期关系中的社区样本女性（N=81）和男性（N=72）中，女性更有可能报告身体形象问题和性活动的外部后果，而男性更有可能报告与表现相关的问题。在男性和女性中，关于性活动的情绪后果的想法同样常见。无论思维内容如何，更频繁地出现 NETs 与女性和男性的更多性问题相关。此外，正如巴洛的模型所预测的，在性活动前和进行中体验到更大的负面情绪会预测到更多的 NETs 出现，并且对 NETs 的更大焦虑反应与更难以忽略这些想法相关。然而，在性活动中更难以重新专注于性唤起的想法，独立于 NETs 的频率和可忽略性，与更多的性问题相关。总之，这些数据支持了巴洛的性功能障碍因果模型所涉及的认知干扰机制，并对性问题的治疗具有启示意义。
