Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Sex Med Rev. 2020 Oct;8(4):531-541. doi: 10.1016/j.sxmr.2020.06.005. Epub 2020 Aug 5.
Current information-processing models of sexual arousal imply that both controlled and automatic affective-motivational processes are critically involved in sexual responding and suggest that dysfunctional automatic processes may be involved in the development and persistence of sexual dysfunctions. Because (dysfunctional) automatic processes and responses cannot be adequately captured by common self-report measures, implicit performance-based measures have been developed to index these processes.
This review provides an overview of studies that used implicit tasks in clinical sexual research, and critically evaluates the contribution and promise of these measures to improve our understanding of the mechanisms involved in sexual dysfunctions.
6 electronic main databases (AMED, MEDLINE, PsycArticles, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, and SocINDEX) were searched for studies involving implicit measurement techniques to measure automatic processes in clinical sex research.
A series of studies examined if lowered (or heightened) attention for sex stimuli may be involved in low sexual arousal, low desire, and genital pain. Preliminary evidence showed that lowered attention is involved in low sexual arousal. The pattern with regard to desire and genital pain was mixed which may be due to heterogeneity in assessment instruments. A limited number of studies examined automatic memory associations with sexual cues. Preliminary evidence showed negative (sex-threat/sex-disgust) associations in women with genito-pelvic pain or penetration disorder, less positive associations in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, and sex-positive and sex-failure associations in men with sexual distress. Thus far, no studies have examined lowered (or heightened) automatic sexual approach tendencies related to sexual dysfunctions.
Implicit measures showed some promise as tools to index automatic sex-relevant cognitive mechanisms in sexual dysfunctions. Yet, more systematic research and the development of psychometrically sound measures are critical for a more comprehensive evaluation of the relevance of implicit measures in clinical sex research and their usefulness as indices of individual differences in clinical practice. Hinzmann J, Borg C, de Jong PJ. Implicit Measures in Clinical Sex Research: A Critical Evaluation. Sex Med Rev 2020;8:531-541.
当前的性唤起信息处理模型暗示，控制性和自动情感动机过程都与性反应密切相关，并表明功能失调的自动过程可能与性障碍的发展和持续有关。由于（功能失调的）自动过程和反应不能通过常见的自我报告测量充分捕捉到，因此已经开发了基于内隐表现的测量方法来标记这些过程。
本综述提供了一个使用临床性研究中的内隐任务的研究概述，并批判性地评估了这些测量方法对提高我们对性障碍相关机制的理解的贡献和前景。
在 6 个电子主要数据库（AMED、MEDLINE、PsycArticles、Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection、PsycINFO 和 SocINDEX）中搜索了涉及内隐测量技术的研究，以测量临床性研究中的自动过程。
一系列研究检查了降低（或升高）对性刺激的注意力是否可能与低性唤起、低欲望和生殖器疼痛有关。初步证据表明，注意力降低与低性唤起有关。关于欲望和生殖器疼痛的模式是混合的，这可能是由于评估工具的异质性。少数研究检查了与性线索的自动记忆关联。初步证据表明，在患有生殖器疼痛或插入障碍的女性中存在负面（性威胁/性厌恶）关联，在患有性欲低下障碍的女性中关联较少，在患有性困扰的男性中存在性积极和性失败关联。到目前为止，还没有研究检查与性障碍相关的降低（或升高）的自动性接近倾向。
内隐测量显示出一些作为标记性障碍中与性相关的自动认知机制的工具的潜力。然而，更系统的研究和心理测量学上良好的测量方法的开发对于更全面地评估内隐测量在临床性研究中的相关性及其在临床实践中作为个体差异指标的有用性至关重要。Hinzmann J、Borg C、de Jong PJ。临床性研究中的内隐测量：批判性评价。性医学评论 2020；8：531-541。
