School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Vanier Hall, Room 3002H, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Arch Sex Behav. 2018 Apr;47(3):703-714. doi: 10.1007/s10508-017-0982-9. Epub 2017 Apr 4.
Risk and protective factors are equally important to the promotion of sexual health. Yet, in body image and sexuality research, most of the focus has been placed on the deleterious effects of appearance dissatisfaction and body mass index (BMI) at the expense of more adaptive dimensions. Furthermore, although age can affect appearance and sexual function, little is known regarding the experience of older women. Therefore, this study was aimed at comparing how positive body image (operationalized as body appreciation) and negative body image (operationalized as appearance dissatisfaction) each contribute to indicators of sexual health when controlling for BMI in a sample of age-varied women. Cross-sectional data were collected online from 215 heterosexual women aged 18-88 years. Results showed that body appreciation was a unique predictor of sexual function, satisfaction, and distress, above and beyond the effect of BMI and appearance dissatisfaction. Body appreciation was not found to fluctuate with age. Further, body appreciation moderated the relationship between age and sexual satisfaction, but not sexual distress. Post hoc analyses showed that high body appreciation may serve as a buffer against age-related changes in sexual satisfaction only in women with clinically significant sexual function difficulties. Increasing body appreciation may be a promising clinical intervention in the treatment of sexual problems in older adult women.
风险和保护因素对于促进性健康同样重要。然而，在身体意象和性研究中，大多数关注的焦点都放在了外表不满和体重指数（BMI）的有害影响上，而忽略了更适应的维度。此外，尽管年龄会影响外貌和性功能，但对于老年女性的体验却知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在比较积极的身体意象（表现为身体欣赏）和消极的身体意象（表现为外表不满）在控制 BMI 的情况下，如何分别对不同年龄段女性的性健康指标做出贡献。本研究采用横断面设计，通过网络收集了 215 名 18-88 岁的异性恋女性的资料。结果表明，身体欣赏是性功能、满意度和困扰的独特预测指标，超过了 BMI 和外表不满的影响。研究未发现身体欣赏随年龄而波动。此外，身体欣赏调节了年龄与性满意度之间的关系，但不调节性困扰。进一步分析显示，高身体欣赏可能是患有临床显著性功能障碍的女性在与年龄相关的性满意度变化中的缓冲因素。增加身体欣赏可能是治疗老年女性性功能问题的一种有前途的临床干预措施。
