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Climate change and its effects present notable challenges for mental health, particularly for vulnerable populations, including young people. Immediately following the unprecedented Black Summer bushfire season of 2019/2020, 746 Australians (aged 16–25 years) completed measures of mental health and perceptions of climate change. Results indicated greater presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorder symptoms, substance abuse, and climate change distress and concern, as well as lower psychological resilience and perceived distance to climate change, in participants with direct exposure to these bushfires. Findings highlight significant vulnerabilities of concern for youth mental health as climate change advances.

This study examined the extent to which telehealth placements are feasible for developing perceived competence as a psychologist and are an acceptable training modality for provisional psychologist...

Green consumption refers to consumer decision-making that prioritizes the environmental impacts of purchases. The aim of the current research was to identify factors that influence consumers to pur...

Limited knowledge exists on participant outcomes relating to citizen science programs. Using the ClimateWatch: Scientist for a Day program as a case study, we sought to understand participant behav...

Objectives Australian aged care policy is wholly focused on individual "consumers" and consequently neglects the needs of dyadic partners. This paper highlights partnered baby boomers' attitudes to maintaining sexual and intimate relationships in residential care. Methods In 2016, cross-sectional data were collected using an online survey of partnered baby boomers recruited using social media. Qualitative data were analysed using word frequency, keywords-in-context and thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were generated from quantitative data. Results There were 168 participants (85% female), aged 51-71 years. Many reported that remaining together and continuing physical and sexual contact were important in aged care contexts-necessitating private couple's suites, shared beds, access to condoms, lubricants and sexual health professionals. Conclusions Considerable cultural change will be required to raise residential aged care to the standard expected by some partnered baby boomers. Shifting to a more couple-centred approach may benefit partnered residents' health and well-being.

Objective Relationship-enhancing behaviours that contribute to older adults' well-being are scarcely considered in "active ageing" discourses despite relationship quality having been repeatedly linked to health outcomes. This paper explores such behaviours in older adults. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected in 2016 from 168 partnered baby boomers (born 1946 to 1965) using an online survey. The 36 qualitative and quantitative questions were analysed using mixed methods. Results Participants were predominantly women (85%), with a mean age of 62 years (SD = 5.2). Relationship-enhancing behaviours included verbal and non-verbal cues, physical affection and pleasurable sexual activities. A couple's shared bed was an important relationship setting. Conclusion For happily partnered older adults, relationship quality improves personal well-being. As a social determinant of healthy ageing, health policies and programs are needed to support older adults' relationship quality. To this end, the development of targeted relationship interventions for delivery in health settings is warranted.

Palm oil is an edible oil with a high yield, various economic benefits, and many diverse uses. However, its production has led to increased deforestation, the endangerment of several species, and toxic greenhouse gas emissions. The current study had two aims: (1) to generate a list of palm oil-related pro-environmental behaviours (PEB) that general community members in Australia can do; and (2) to identify one or more behaviours from this list to address in a behaviour-change intervention. Semi-structured interviews with 12 experts (environmental journalists, conservation scientists and activists) generated a list of 11 potential palm oil-related PEB. The same experts rated this list in terms of potential effectiveness in reducing the negative environmental effects of palm oil. A community sample of 300 participants rated the same PEB on likelihood of adoption and current penetration (i.e., the extent to which they already engage in the behaviour). These scores were integrated into a behaviour prioritization matrix, which revealed that the most beneficial PEB to target was “purchasing products containing only sustainable palm oil”. This study is an essential preliminary step in behaviour change interventional research, and outlines the process of selecting specific consumer behaviour related to environmental concerns. Policy-based implications are discussed.

Individuals who report mostly heterosexual orientations (i.e., mostly sexually attracted to the opposite sex, but occasionally attracted to the same sex) outnumber all other non-heterosexual individuals combined. The present study examined whether mostly heterosexual men and women view same- and other-sex sexual stimuli differently than exclusively heterosexual men and women. A novel eye-tracking paradigm was used with 162 mostly and exclusively heterosexual men and women. Compared to exclusively heterosexual men, mostly heterosexual men demonstrated greater attention to sexually explicit features (i.e., genital regions and genital contact regions) of solo male and male-male erotic stimuli, while demonstrating equivalent attention to sexually explicit features of solo female and female-female erotic stimuli. Mediation analyses suggested that differences between mostly and exclusively heterosexual profiles in men could be explained by mostly heterosexual men's increased sexual attraction to solo male erotica, and their increased sexual attraction and reduced disgust to the male-male erotica. No comparable differences in attention were observed between mostly and exclusively heterosexual women-although mostly heterosexual women did demonstrate greater fixation on visual erotica overall-a pattern of response that was found to be mediated by reduced disgust.

After the publication of this article, it was determined that the correct authorship list should read as follows: “Michael T. Walton and Navjot Bhullar”. James M. Cantor and Amy D. Lykins should not have been listed as authors.

An empirical review of hypersexuality is timely as "compulsive sexual behavior" is being considered as an impulse control disorder for inclusion in the forthcoming International Classification of Diseases, 11th ed. Specifically, hypersexuality has been conceptualized in the literature as the inability to regulate one's sexual behavior that is a source of significant personal distress. Various theoretical models have been posited in an attempt to understand the occurrence of hypersexuality, although disagreement about these divergent conceptualizations of the condition has made assessment and treatment of hypersexual clients more challenging. Theories of sexual compulsivity, sexual impulsivity, dual control (sexual inhibition/excitation), and sex addiction are critically examined, as are the diagnostic criteria for clinically assessing hypersexuality as a sexual disorder. Our discussion of hypersexuality covers a diversity of research and clinical perspectives. We also address various challenges associated with reliably defining, psychometrically measuring, and diagnosing hypersexuality. Furthermore, literature is reviewed that expresses concerns regarding whether hypersexuality (conceptualized as a disorder) exists, whether it is simply normophilic behavior at the extreme end of sexual functioning, or alternatively is a presenting problem that requires treatment rather than a clinical diagnosis. Following our literature review, we developed the "sexhavior cycle of hypersexuality" to potentially explain the neuropsychology and maintenance cycle of hypersexuality. The sexhavior cycle suggests that, for some hypersexual persons, high sexual arousal may temporarily and adversely impact cognitive processing (cognitive abeyance) and explain a repeated pattern of psychological distress when interpreting one's sexual behavior (sexual incongruence). We also suggest that further research is required to validate whether hypersexuality is a behavioral disorder (such as gambling), although some presentations of the condition appear to be symptomatic of a heterogeneous psychological problem that requires treatment.

Palm oil is relatively inexpensive, versatile, and popular, generating great economic value for Southeast Asian countries. However, the growing demand for palm oil is leading to deforestation and biodiversity loss. The current study is the first to employ a capability-opportunity-motivation (COM-B) framework in green consumerism, to determine which capability, opportunity, and motivation factors strongly predict the intentional purchasing of sustainable palm oil products by Australian consumers (N = 781). Exploratory factor analysis revealed four main types of predictors of SPO purchasing–Pro-Green Consumption Attitudes,Demotivating Beliefs,Knowledge and Awareness, andPerceived Product Availability. Multiple regression revealed that these four factors explained 50% of the variability in SPO purchasing behaviour, out of whichKnowledge and Awarenessaccounted for 18% of the unique variance.Perceived Product AvailabilityandPro-Green Consumption Attitudeswere also significant predictors but accounted for only 2% and 1% of unique variance, respectively. These results provide a valuable foundation for designing behaviour change interventions to increase consumer demand for sustainable palm oil products.

Research on body appreciation is limited, especially when examining its relationship to sexual functioning. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between body appreciation and sexual functioning, while measuring perceived partner's body appreciation and general relationship quality. A sample of 244 women aged 18 to 30 completed measures of sexual functioning, relationship quality, and body image online. General relationship quality and perceived partner's appreciation of one's body predicted levels of sexual functioning. Levels of body appreciation did not predict sexual functioning over and above general relationship quality and perceived partner's appreciation of one's body. This study is the first to demonstrate the significance of general relationship quality and perceived partner's body appreciation in relation to levels of body appreciation and sexual functioning. The findings highlight the importance of understanding body appreciation and its role in buffering the harmful impacts of viewing idealized images within the media.

Introduction According to neurohormonal theory, prenatal androgens are key determinants of sexual orientation. As a reputed marker for prenatal androgens, the 2D:4D finger length ratio has been used in more than a dozen studies to test the hypothesis that prenatal androgens influence sexual orientation. Findings have been very inconsistent. Aim The present study sought to retest the hypothesis that 2D:4D and sexual orientation are related is a manner consistent with neurohormonal theory. Methods A 2D:4D measure (of the right hand) along with four additional somatic markers of androgen exposure (height, physical strength, muscularity, and athletic ability) with samples of college students in Malaysia (N = 2,058) and the United States (N = 2,511). The five androgen measures were factor analyzed, resulting in a two-factor solution: Factor 1 consisted of strength, muscularity, and athletic ability (the muscular coordination factor), and Factor 2 was comprised of the r2D:4D and adult height (the bone growth factor). Main Outcome Measures Sexual orientation was measured by asking each respondent the extent to which they were sexually attracted to males and the extent to which they were sexually attracted to females, both on 11-point scales. Results When the countries and sexes were analyzed separately, neither the r2D:4D measure nor Factor 2 correlated with sexual orientation to significant degrees. Instead, it was the muscular coordination factor that correlated the best. Support was found for the hypothesis that prenatal androgens influence sexual orientation, but the nature of these influences was more complex than neurohormonal theory predicted. Conclusion A modified theory is needed and presented to accommodate the results from this study.

Adult men’s height results from an interaction among positive and negative influences, including genetic predisposition, conditions in utero, and influences during early development such as nutritional quality, pathogen exposure, and socioeconomic status. Decreased height, reflected specifically as a decreased leg length, is strongly associated with increased risk of poorer health outcomes. Although prior research has repeatedly shown that pedophiles are shorter than nonpedophiles, the largest study to date relied on self-reported height. In the present study, pedophiles demonstrated reduced measured height and reduced leg length as compared with teleiophiles. Given the prenatal and early childhood origins of height, these findings contribute additional evidence to a biological, developmental origin of pedophilia. In addition, the magnitude of this height difference was substantially larger than that found in children exposed to a variety of early environmental stressors, but similar to that seen in other biologically based neurodevelopmental disorders.

Previous studies have often revealed differences between the acknowledgment of same-sex attraction and rates of bisexual or homosexual identification. This study contends that social influences (including the perception that same-sex sexual attraction is not gender normative) as well as prejudice toward bisexual persons (biphobia), may help explain this discrepancy. In this study, the authors tested whether, in line with a social identity approach, manipulating social factors regarding the gender normativity of bisexuality influenced participants’ self-perceptions of their sexualities and expression of biphobia. Male and female participants (N = 416) were randomly assigned to read one of two narratives comprising fictitious neurological research evidence, which claimed that their own gender was more naturally bisexual than the other gender (Condition 1), whereas a control group (Condition 2) did not receive any information regarding the gender normativity of bisexuality. Results indicated that men endorse...

Evidence is steadily accumulating to support a neurodevelopmental basis for pedophilia. This includes increased incidence of non-right-handedness, which is a result primarily of prenatal neural development and solidified very early in life. Minor physical anomalies (MPAs; superficial deviations from typical morphological development, such as un-detached earlobes) also develop only prenatally, suggesting them as another potential marker of atypical physiological development during the prenatal period among pedophiles. This study administered the Waldrop Physical Anomaly Scale to assess the prevalence of MPAs in a clinical sample of men referred for assessment following a sexual assault, or another illegal or clinically significant sexual behavior. Significant associations emerged between MPA indices and indicators of pedophilia, including penile responses to depictions of children, number of child victims, and possession of child pornography. Moreover, greater sexual attraction to children was associated with an elevated craniofacial-to-peripheral anomalies ratio. The overall sample demonstrated a greater number of MPAs relative to prior samples of individuals with schizophrenia as well as to healthy controls.

The aim of the study reported in this article was to gain an understanding of the experiences, developmental trajectories, and mental health status of Australian trans men. Participants were 279 trans men. The majority preferred to identify as “male”; from an early age, they had experienced their gender identity as different from that normatively expected of their natally assigned sex and had undertaken practices so as to facilitate their presentation as male in accordance with their gender identity. A majority reported a diagnosis of depression or anxiety within the last 12 months and attributed suicidal ideation and self-harm and attempted suicide to personal issues with gender identity. Going through a masculinisation process and coming out reportedly led to improved mental health. The findings highlight the need to educate mental health and health care professionals on trans issues.

Objectives: Women delay gynecological care for various reasons, including practical difficulties and self-consciousness about having health professionals view their genitals. Methods: Experiences of and intentions to have pelvic examinations, attitudes toward female genitals, and genital self-image were investigated in young Asian and non-Asian women. Results: Past experience of having had pelvic screening and fears about screening were the strongest predictors of intentions to have pelvic examinations in the future. Asian women were significantly less likely to have had a pelvic examination compared with non-Asian women, but there were no group differences in attitudes toward female genitals, genital self-image, or intentions to have pelvic examinations.

The proliferation of “idealized” (i.e., very thin and attractive) women in the media has contributed to increasing rates of body dissatisfaction among women. However, it remains relatively unknown how women attend to these images: does dissatisfaction predict greater or lesser attention to these body regions on others? Fifty healthy women (mean age = 21.8 years) viewed images of idealized and plus-size models; an eye-tracker recorded visual attention. Participants also completed measures of satisfaction for specific body regions, which were then used as predictors of visual attention to these regions on models. Consistent with an avoidance-type process, lower levels of satisfaction with the two regions of greatest reported concern (mid, lower torso) predicted less attention to these regions; greater satisfaction predicted more attention to these regions. While this visual attention bias may aid in preserving self-esteem when viewing idealized others, it may preclude the opportunity for comparisons that could improve self-esteem.

This study investigated whether working memory capacity (WMC) moderated the relationship between physiological arousal and sexual decision making. A total of 59 men viewed 20 consensual and 20 non-consensual images of heterosexual interaction while their physiological arousal levels were recorded using skin conductance response. Participants also completed an assessment of WMC and a date-rape analogue task for which they had to identify the point at which an average Australian male would cease all sexual advances in response to verbal and/or physical resistance from a female partner. Participants who were more physiologically aroused by and spent more time viewing the non-consensual sexual imagery nominated significantly later stopping points on the date-rape analogue task. Consistent with our predictions, the relationship between physiological arousal and nominated stopping point was strongest for participants with lower levels of WMC. For participants with high WMC, physiological arousal was unrelated to nominated stopping point. Thus, executive functioning ability (and WMC in particular) appears to play an important role in moderating men's decision making with regard to sexually aggressive behavior.

Phallometry is a physiological measure of sexual response widely used for the assessment of paedophilia among sexual offenders. Although many medications decrease penile response sufficiently to interfere with sexual intercourse, it is unknown to what extent such medications might interfere with phallometric testing. In the current study, we utilized a naturalistic convenience sample of 1078 men who attended a clinic for assessment of sexual preferences, mostly related to sexual offence convictions. In the present analyses, we quantified the differences in penile response during phallometric assessment associated with taking a range of common medications. Participants on medication typically showed less penile output than participants not taking medications; however, differences were largely accounted for by age rather than by medication status. Though most medications were associated with decreases in penile responsivity during volumetric phallometric testing, such changes were small in absolute terms and appeared to be associated with ageing rather than with the medications themselves.

Multiple factors determine handedness including genetics, prenatal stress and post-natal environmental conditions. Atypical handedness, whether manifest as increased sinistrality or decreased strength of lateral preference, has been noted in a wide variety of populations with neuropathology. Those with atypical sexual preferences, specifically paedophilia, also manifest reduced rates of right-handedness. This paper uses the largest sample of phallometrically assessed men to date to establish the pattern of atypical handedness in paedophilia. Specifically, whereas prior research has largely characterized participants dichotomously as right-handed or non-right-handed and/or used self-report of writing hand, this paper expands upon such reports by using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory's laterality quotient. Participants' handedness and phallometrically assessed sexual preference were analyzed both as continuous and categorical variables, and the responses of those scoring in the range of ambiguous-handedness were evaluated to ascertain whether they were ambiguously handed or more accurately described as mixed-handed. Results indicated those producing scores in the range of ambiguous-handedness demonstrated response patterns consistent with ambiguous-handedness, rather than mixed-handedness. Paedophiles demonstrated high rates of non-right-handedness primarily manifested as sinistrality, whereas those who had a sexual preference for pubescent children evidenced increased ambiguous-handedness. Results support a view of ambiguous-handedness as less pathological than previously hypothesized, and of a neurodevelopmental origin of paraphilic sexual preferences.

Male sexual dysfunction is a prevalent and distressing condition, which may be exacerbated by the sufferer's perceptions of masculinity and normative sexual behavior. This study sought to investigate the effect of social context on males' beliefs regarding sexual behavior. The research examined the effect of male role modeling and masculine cues on males' dysfunctional sexual beliefs, sexual attitudes, and self-perceptions of sexual functioning. A sample of 140 male participants, with a mean age of 29 years, was exposed to pictorial and verbal cues that presented different versions of male behavior across three conditions. Results indicated that males exposed to models and cues of traditional masculinity showed significantly increased levels of dysfunctional sexual beliefs and traditional sexual attitudes relative to males exposed to models of modern masculinity. Results also indicated that males exposed to traditional masculine stimuli reported lower levels of sexual inhibition due to fear of performance failure than males exposed to models of modern masculinity. The potential role of social context is discussed in the development and maintenance of male sexual dysfunction and its implications for treatment.

Vorarephilia ("vore") is an infrequently presenting paraphilia, characterized by the erotic desire to consume or be consumed by another person or creature. Few data exist on vore though several cases have been reported which appear to be consistent with basic vorarephilic interests. Because this sexual interest cannot be enacted in real life due to physical and/or legal restraints, vorarephilic fantasies are often composed in text or illustrations and shared with other members of this subculture via the Internet. Similarities with aspects of bondage/dominance sadomasochism interests, more specifically dominance and submission, are noted. The current case report describes a man with masochistic sexual interests which intersected with submissive vorarephilic fantasy.

Observational stance refers to the perspective a person takes while viewing a sexual stimulus, either as a passive observer (observer stance) or an active participant (participant stance). The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between observational stance and sexual arousal (subjective and genital) across a range of sexual stimuli that do or do not correspond with a participant's sexual attraction (preferred or nonpreferred stimuli, respectively). Regression analyses revealed that, for men (n = 44), participant stance significantly predicted subjective and genital arousal. Women's (n = 47) observer and participant stance predicted subjective arousal but not genital arousal. Analysis of variance showed that participant stance was greatest under preferred sexual stimuli conditions for all groups of participants, while observer stance scores revealed a less consistent pattern of response. This was particularly true for opposite-sex-attracted women, whose ratings of observer stance were lowest for preferred stimuli. Observational stance does not appear to account for gender differences in specificity of sexual arousal; for men, however, participant stance uniquely predicted genital response after controlling for sexual attractions. Similarities in the relationships between men's and women's observational stance and sexual responses challenge previous claims of gender differences in how men and women view erotica.

Men and women have been seeking professional assistance to help control hypersexual urges and behaviors since the nineteenth century. Despite that the literature emphasizes that cases of hypersexuality are highly diverse with regard to clinical presentation and comorbid features, the major models for understanding and treating hypersexuality employ a “one size fits all” approach. That is, rather than identify which problematic behaviors might respond best to which interventions, existing approaches presume or assert without evidence that all cases of hypersexuality (however termed or defined) represent the same underlying problem and merit the same approach to intervention. The present article instead provides a typology of hypersexuality referrals that links individual clinical profiles or symptom clusters to individual treatment suggestions. Case vignettes are provided to illustrate the most common profiles of hypersexuality referral that presented to a large, hospital-based sexual behaviors clinic, including: (1) Paraphilic Hypersexuality, (2) Avoidant Masturbation, (3) Chronic Adultery, (4) Sexual Guilt, (5) the Designated Patient, and (6) better accounted for as a symptom of another condition.

Past visual attention research appears to show that bisexual men and women view erotic images differently compared to heterosexual and gay/lesbian men and women. However, none of these studies have employed analytic approaches required to determine whether these apparent bisexual viewing patterns are due to averaging together heterosexual and gay/lesbian type viewing patterns, or rather are because bisexual-identified individuals possess unique viewing patterns which are distinct from heterosexual and gay/lesbian individuals. In the current eye-tracking study, we aimed to address this question. Visual attention of 60 men (24 heterosexual, 19 gay, 17 bisexual) and 54 women (21 heterosexual, 10 lesbian, 23 bisexual) was tracked, while they viewed erotic images of nude men and women. Applying analytic approaches capable of detecting bisexual responding revealed that bisexual men, but not bisexual women, had a unique bisexual controlled attention pattern, and that neither bisexual men nor women demonstrated a unique bisexual pattern of initial attention. Our findings provide mixed evidence for a unique bisexual attentional profile in men and women.

Evidence has been inconsistent regarding any links between the 2D:4D ratio and sexual orientation. The present study was undertaken to (a) further test the hypothesis that the 2D:4D ratio is associated with sexual orientation and (b) explore the possible confounding influence of ethnicity in these relationships. Samples of college students in Malaysia and the U.S. reported their 2D:4D ratios on their right hand (r2D:4D), sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Modest tendencies were found for homosexual preferences to be positively associated with r2D:4D among males and inversely associated among females, although there were ethnic differences in this regard. The ethnic differences in the r2D:4D ratios seemed to parallel Asian/Western differences in sexual orientation, with diminished opposite-gender preferences among Asians, especially Asian females. Analysis of how r2D:4D and sexual orientation were correlated revealed few significant relationships except among females. As theoretically predicted, correlations between r2D:4D and homosexual attractions were negative for the three Western ethnic samples (two of which were statistically significant). Unexpectedly, however, female homosexual attractions were significantly positively correlated with r2D:4D in all three Asian samples. Overall, findings suggest that at least among females, prenatal androgen exposure may be less responsible for variations in sexual orientation in Asian than in Western populations."Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet."Rudyard Kipling, 1892IntroductionAccording to what has been termed evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory (Ellis, 2011), sexual orientation is an evolved mammalian sex difference determined primarily by brain exposure to androgens during fetal development. Accordingly, the greater a mammal's exposure to androgens, the more likely he/she will be to exhibit highly masculine traits. One of these masculine traits is a tendency to prefer females as sex partners. Contrarily, the lower the exposure to androgens, the more feminine an individual will be, including exhibiting a preference for male sex partners. Of course, in general, male brains receive much higher androgen exposure than do female brains, thus accounting for substantial average gender differences in sexual orientation. Theoretically, therefore, in all mammalian species, the majority of both males and females should exhibit predominantly heterosexual preferences.Testing ENA theory in humans has been hampered by the fact that fetal brain exposure to androgens is difficult to measure and cannot be experimentally manipulated. Furthermore, one would have to compare prenatal exposure levels with sexual orientation at sexual maturity some twenty years following the exposure.Researchers have managed to estimate androgen levels in amniotic fluid (Baron-Cohen, Lutchmaya, & Knickmeyer, 2004; van de Beek, Thijssen, Cohen-Kettenis, van Goozen, & Buitelaar, 2004). While this should indeed approximate prenatal brain exposure, no study has yet managed to correlate this exposure to sexual orientation partly due to the large sample size that would be required given the relative rarity of non-heterosexuality.Over the past two decades, an obtuse method for assessing prenatal androgen exposure appears to have been identified, called the 2D:4D ratio (McIntyre, 2006; Nelson & Shultz, 2010). The assessment method involves simply measuring the relative length of the second (pointing) and fourth (ring) fingers. Studies suggest that the lower the ratio, the greater was an individual's prenatal exposure to testosterone (with estradiol, a postcursor of testosterone, also possibly being involved) (Manning, Scutt, Wilson, & Lewis-Jones, 1998; McIntyre, Ellison, Lieberman, Demerath, & Towne, 2005; van Anders, Vernon, & Wilbur, 2006). The most incontrovertible evidence to date of prenatal androgenic influences on the relative lengths of the second and fourth digits has come from recently published experiments with mice (Zheng & Cohn, 2011). …

Introduction Despite the importance of sexuality for romantic relationships, there has been little research attention to individual differences and dyadic variables, including couple similarity, and their association with sexual problems and satisfaction. Aim The current study examined the effects of the propensity for sexual inhibition and sexual excitation scales (SIS/SES) and the effects of different mood states on sexuality (Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire [MSQ]), at both the individual and the dyad level, on sexual arousal problems and sexual satisfaction. Methods Similarity in SIS/SES and MSQ was measured in a nonclinical sample of 35 newlywed couples and operationally defined as the within‐couple, z‐transformed correlations between the two partners' item responses. Main Outcome Measures Sexual arousal problems were assessed using self‐report measures (Demographic and Sexual History Questionnaire) and focused on the past 3 months. Sexual satisfaction was assessed using the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction. Results Regression analyses revealed that greater similarity in the effects of anxiety and stress on sexuality was associated with more reported sexual arousal problems of wives. In contrast, the husbands' sexual arousal problems were related only to their own higher SIS1 scores. Higher SES scores predicted lower sexual satisfaction for both husbands and wives. Wives who reported strong positive mood effects on their sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction, while husbands who were more similar to their wives in the effect of positive moods on sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction. Conclusions The findings show that, above and beyond one's own sexual propensities, similarity in various aspects of sexuality predicts sexual problems (more so in women) and sexual satisfaction (in both men and women). Lykins AD, Janssen E, Newhouse S, Heiman JR, and Rafaeli E. The effects of similarity in sexual excitation, inhibition, and mood on sexual arousal problems and sexual satisfaction in newlywed couples. J Sex Med 2012;9:1360–1366.

The coupling of sex and pain creates an interesting theoretical conundrum of clinical significance: Are women with dyspareunia distracted from sexual stimuli, or are they hypervigilant to sexual stimuli because these stimuli elicit thoughts and expectations of pain? This study measured attention to sexual stimuli in women reporting persistent pain with intercourse, women reporting low sexual desire, and women reporting no sexual problems. Participants viewed a series of erotic images, each containing an object intended to distract from the erotic scene regions, while an eye tracker recorded their eye movements. Women with pain looked for shorter periods of time and fewer times at the sexual scene region than did both women with low sexual desire (p = .024 and p = .018, respectively) and the no-dysfunction control group (p < .001 and p = .003, respectively). Women with pain also looked at the context (nonsexual) scene region significantly more times and for longer periods than did the no-dysfunction control women (p = .013 and p = .042, respectively). Results are interpreted to be potentially supportive of the cognitive distraction hypothesis associated with sexual dysfunction, with an additional component of cognitive avoidance of sexual stimuli for the women reporting sexual pain.

Phallometric assessments of single-victim sexual offenders against children have suggested that only about 50% of these men are more attracted to children than they are to adults. This has raised the question of what motivates the other 50% of men to approach young girls for sex. Freund et al. showed that gynephilic men (i.e., men preferentially attracted to adult women) evidenced greater arousal to images of prepubescent girls than to images of males of any age or to nonerotic images, arguing that gynephilic men may approach prepubescent girls as a “surrogate” for their preferred erotic targets (i.e., adult women). One might argue that these phallometric results are artifactual, given that they were obtained in a time period during which images of nudity were far less common than they are today (thus any female nudity might have elicited arousal). To address this issue, the authors examined the sexual arousal patterns of 214 contemporary men who, based on self-report, offense history, and phallometric responses, were purely gynephilic. Results showed the “classical control profile”: the greatest arousal to adult women, systematically decreasing arousal as the female stimuli became younger, and essentially no arousal to any age categories of males or to neutral (nonerotic) stimuli. Arousal to both pubescent and prepubescent girls was significantly greater than to neutral stimuli ( p < .001 for both). Thus, Freund et al.’s results still appear to be valid, and the explanation for child molesting that they suggest still seems to be feasible.

After a long history of privileging psychosexual etiological factors over pain and physiological processes, dyspareunia has enjoyed 1 decade of pointed research focused on the presenting problem of pain. Although it is generally acknowledged that certain affective and cognitive styles may play a role in an individual's experience of pain in general, investigations into these questions specifically as they pertain to pain that occurs during sex are relatively scarce. To add to this growing body of knowledge, 759 women aged 18 to 29 completed questionnaires about current sexual functioning, gynecologic history, expectations about intercourse, and various personality and health-related anxiety measures. One-hundred-one women (14% of the sample) reported pain during intercourse on at least 50% of attempts. This group of women significantly differed from 536 women reporting pain on less than 10% of intercourse attempts on personality constructs related to emotional and relational well-being (e.g., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness), as well as anxiety sensitivity, anxiety related to physical health concerns, and the amplification of somatosensory experiences. This affective and cognitive profile is consistent with previous studies that have found an attentional hypervigilance to health and pain-related information in women with dyspareunia, all of which could prove germane to cognitive-behavioral treatments targeting this disorder.

As a first step in the investigation of the role of visual attention in the processing of erotic stimuli, eye-tracking methodology was employed to measure eye movements during erotic scene presentation. Because eye-tracking is a novel methodology in sexuality research, we attempted to determine whether the eye-tracker could detect differences (should they exist) in visual attention to erotic and non-erotic scenes. A total of 20 men and 20 women were presented with a series of erotic and non-erotic images and tracked their eye movements during image presentation. Comparisons between erotic and non-erotic image groups showed significant differences on two of three dependent measures of visual attention (number of fixations and total time) in both men and women. As hypothesized, there was a significant Stimulus x Scene Region interaction, indicating that participants visually attended to the body more in the erotic stimuli than in the non-erotic stimuli, as evidenced by a greater number of fixations and longer total time devoted to that region. These findings provide support for the application of eye-tracking methodology as a measure of visual attentional capture in sexuality research. Future applications of this methodology to expand our knowledge of the role of cognition in sexuality are suggested.

One-hundred women involved in a primary lesbian relationship completed a measure investigating sexual difficulties with various aspects of sex with their current partner. Results were compared to previous research on both heterosexual and gay couples. Reported frequency of sexual activity and levels of sexual satisfaction were equivalent to those of heterosexual and gay couples. This sample also reported fewer and different types of sexual problems than did heterosexual women. Analyses suggest that the sexual life of lesbians is more robust than often reported. Discussed are relational dynamics, possibly protective of lesbian sexual relationships, as well as clinical implications of re-assessing the nature and importance of sex to lesbian couples.

In 2013, the E-males study was launched to increase the visibility of (and meet the research gaps on) FtM transgender Australians and their needs, with a view to informing policy. This chapter describes the study’s two design components: an anonymous online survey which gathered basic data through quantitative and qualitative questions, and an anonymous online discussion-board forum which facilitated deeper discussions of the key themes with the research team and other respondents. This design allowed participants to give feedback on, and co-create, the topics and questions—to increase their ownership of the project and how they were to be presented. Participants were recruited through a range of recruitment techniques, including paid advertising, support groups and services, Facebook posts, e-lists, media interviews and so on. The study’s design and recruitment processes were informed by a reference group including a diverse range of FtM transgender Australian individuals, and feedback from key organisations.

Transgender people may engage in transition (or self-affirmation) processes with any or all of personal, internal, social, legal and physical elements. This chapter discusses data on transitioning generated by the 273 FtM transgender Australians in the 2013 E-Males study. In terms of physical transitions, non-surgical measures were the most common, and a strong majority of participants had used binding and hormones (87 %). Most (73 %) have had physical interventions to make their body look more masculine and 70 % intend to have additional modifications—chest surgeries were the most popular type. Almost half of the participants spent between $1,000 and $10,000 in this process. The great majority (97 %) expressed that these interventions have made a difference to their life and wellbeing, even when results were not optimal. Most participants were satisfied or very satisfied with their interventions. Some participants reported difficulties in their efforts to change their names and sex on documentation.

In total, 273 FtM transgender people participated in the E-males project in 2013; the largest number of FtM transgender people in an Australian study. This chapter provides some basic demographic information about these diverse respondents. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 64, with the average age 30.5. The participants came from all states of Australia, but were slightly more concentrated in Victoria and in urban areas than the broader population. They represented a range of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. In terms of allocated sex at birth, 97 % of the participants were allocated a female sex at birth, and 3 % were intersex. In terms of gender identity, most participants identify as male, but other identities (such as FtM transgender, transsexual male, genderqueer and so on) were represented. The group mostly lived in stable situations with loved ones, and were mostly working or studying. A large majority had no religious affiliation.