Some relationships between sex, marriage and mood.

Although sexual dysfunction, marital difficulty and depression or other mood disturbance coexist in clinical populations, not infrequently detailed information is lacking about many aspects of relationships between problems in these areas. Methods of measuring sexuality, marital relations and depression are discussed. A pilot study of clinic patients is described and the results obtained using a marital pathology scale, a sexual functioning scale and the Beck Depression Inventory discussed. A small pilot study conducted in general practice indicated the likelihood of an enormous incidence of difficulties with 16.5% of patients admitting a present relationship problem and 15.6% a present sexual one.