Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, John Dewey Hall, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT 05402, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2012 Apr;41(2):341-50. doi: 10.1007/s10508-011-9773-x. Epub 2011 Jun 11.
Women with a history of sexual abuse during childhood/adolescence experience a high rate of sexual dysfunction. Evidence also suggests that they often use avoidant coping strategies, such as substance abuse, dissociation, and emotional suppression, which are likely factors implicated with their psychopathology. There is a dearth of information on potential psychological mechanisms affecting the sexuality of these women. Therefore, it is relevant to investigate whether avoidance, an important cognitive mechanism associated with anxiety disorders, relates to sexual functioning in this population. In this study, participants with (N = 34) and without (N = 22) a history of sexual abuse prior to age 16 years completed questionnaires on severity of sexual abuse, sexual functioning, and a tendency to avoid experiences. A three-step hierarchical regression investigated the effects of childhood/adolescent sexual abuse and avoidance tendencies on different aspects of sexual functioning. A significant interaction between childhood/adolescent sexual abuse and avoidance tendencies was found for orgasm function, with the combination of sexual abuse and avoidance tendencies explaining lower orgasm function. These findings suggest that, for women with a history of early sexual abuse, the tendency to avoid interpersonal closeness and avoid emotional involvement predicts orgasm functioning.
有儿童期/青春期性虐待史的女性会经历较高的性功能障碍率。有证据表明，她们经常使用回避应对策略，如滥用药物、分离和情绪压抑，这些都是与她们的精神病理学相关的可能因素。关于影响这些女性性行为的潜在心理机制的信息很少。因此，调查回避（一种与焦虑障碍相关的重要认知机制）是否与该人群的性功能有关是很有意义的。在这项研究中，有（N=34）和没有（N=22）16 岁前性虐待史的参与者完成了关于性虐待严重程度、性功能和回避体验倾向的问卷。一个三步分层回归调查了儿童期/青春期性虐待和回避倾向对不同性功能方面的影响。在性高潮功能方面，发现儿童期/青春期性虐待和回避倾向之间存在显著的交互作用，性虐待和回避倾向的组合解释了较低的性高潮功能。这些发现表明，对于有早期性虐待史的女性，回避人际亲密关系和回避情感投入的倾向预测了性高潮功能。
