Perfectionism, marital satisfaction, and contributing factors to sexual dysfunction in men with erectile disorder and their spouses

The relationship among perfectionism, marital satisfaction, and male sexual functioning was examined. Thirty-two men with DSM-III-R erectile disorder participated. Of this group, 18 men had spouses who were able/willing to participate in their assessment. Subjects completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) as well as the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), a measure of marital satisfaction. Additionally, physician ratings of organic contribution to the sexual dysfunction as well as clinician ratings reflecting the degree to which dysfunctional males' sexual difficulties were due to psychogenic factors were assigned. Psychogenic ratings were significantly positively correlated with overall MPS scores, whereas organic ratings were not. No significant group differences were detected on any measure among those whose spouses participated and those who did not have spouses or whose spouses were unable/unwilling to participate. In addition, for the subset of this sample that included dysfunctional men and their spouses (n = 18), results indicated that DAS scores for both dysfunctional men and their spouses were unrelated to clinician psychogenic ratings and physician organic ratings with the exception of a significant positive relationship between men's DAS scores and their organic ratings. It was revealed that women's, but not men's, total MPS scores were negatively related to both their own and their partner's DAS scores. Implications of these findings for the treatment of sexual dysfunction are discussed.