Polish adaptation of the Sexual Arousability Inventory SAI-PL and validation for the males

Wstęp: Pobudliwość seksualna określa zdolność jednostki do reagowania podnieceniem seksualnym na bodźce zewnętrzne i wewnętrzne (np. fantazje). Jej pomiar jest istotnym elementem badania seksualności oraz diagnozowania dysfunkcji w tym zakresie. Jedną z form pomiaru pobudliwości seksualnej są narzędzia kwestionariuszowe. Dotąd nie powstało żadne narzędzie w języku polskim przeznaczone stricte do tego celu. Odpowiadając na ten brak, opracowano polskojęzyczną adaptację Kwestionariusza Pobudliwości Seksualnej (SAI) autorstwa Hoon i wsp. Materiały i metody: Właściwości psychometryczne narzędzia zbadano na próbie 132 osób (42 kobiety, 90 mężczyzn), natomiast walidację narzędzia wykonano w grupie 39 heteroseksualnych mężczyzn korzystających regularnie z pornografii. Wyniki: Kwestionariusz SAI-PL charakteryzuje się bardzo wysoką spójnością wewnętrzną, strukturą czynnikową niemal identyczną z oryginałem oraz dobrą trafnością. Wnioski: Kwestionariusz może z powodzeniem znaleźć zastosowanie w diagnozie zaburzeń pobudzenia seksualnego, ocenie postępu terapii oraz w badaniach naukowych zarówno z udziałem kobiet, jak i mężczyzn.Introduction: Sexual arousability is defined as an ability to react with sexual arousal in response to external and internal stimuli. Sexual arousablity measuring is important for research purposes and for diagnostics of sexual dysfunctions. Self-assessment techniques can be used for such measurement. Due to absence of Polish-language psychometric tools dedicated for sexual arousability measuring we adapted Sexual Arousability Inventory. Material and methods: Psychometrical characteristic of Polish version of SAI (SAI-PL) was examined in the study with 132 participants (42 females, 90 males) and validation with behavioral factors was performed on the group of 39 heterosexual males consuming pornography on the weekly basis. Results: SAI-PL has almost identical characteristics as original SAI (high internal consistency, the same factorial structure and high reliability). Conclusions: Polish version of SAI can be successfully used for research purposes as well as in clinical setups

“Pornographic binges” as a key characteristic of males seeking treatment for compulsive sexual behaviors: Qualitative and quantitative 10-week-long diary assessment

Background and aims Compulsive sexual behaviors (CSBs) are an important clinical and social issue. Despite the increasing number of studies, some of CSB’s aspects remain under-investigated. Here, we explore the nature of CSB, such as binge pornography use and masturbation (PuM), and verify the correspondence between self-perceived factors leading to such behavior with its measures obtained in a diary assessment. Methods Semi-structuralized interviews with nine treatment-seeking males aged 22–37 years (M = 31.7, SD = 4.85) were followed by a questionnaire and a 10-week-long diary assessment, allowing us to acquire real-life daily patterns of CSB. Results Six out of nine subjects experienced binge (multiple hours or times a day) PuM. All subjects presented a high level of anxiety and perceived PuM as a way to regulate mood and stress. Data collected in the diary assessment uncovered a high diversity in the patterns of sexual behaviors (such as frequency of regular and binge PuM) and its correlates. Binge PuM was related to decreased mood and/or increased stress or anxiety. The causal relation between these correlates remains undetermined. Discussion and conclusions Binge PuM seems to be one of the most characteristic behavior among males who are seeking treatment for CSB and is related to the feeling of losing control over one’s sexual activity. CSB individuals indicate a variety of binge triggers. Also, diary assessment data indicate that specific correlates of binge PuM (decreased mood, increased stress, and anxiety) differ between subjects. It suggests the existence of significant individual differences in binge PuM behaviors, and a need to study these differences, as it may help guide personalized treatment

Visual Sexual Stimuli-Cue or Reward? A Perspective for Interpreting Brain Imaging Findings on Human Sexual Behaviors

There is an increasing number of neuroimaging studies using visual sexual stimuli (VSS), especially within the emerging field of research on compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB). A central question in this field is whether behaviors such as excessive pornography consumption share common brain mechanisms with widely studied substance and behavioral addictions. Depending on how VSS are conceptualized, different predictions can be formulated within the frameworks of Reinforcement Learning or Incentive Salience Theory, where a crucial distinction is made between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (related to reward anticipation vs. reward consumption, respectively). Surveying 40 recent human neuroimaging studies we show existing ambiguity about the conceptualization of VSS. Therefore, we feel that it is important to address the question of whether VSS should be considered as conditioned stimuli (cue) or unconditioned stimuli (reward). Here we present our own perspective, which is that in most laboratory settings VSS play a role of reward, as evidenced by: (1) experience of pleasure while watching VSS, possibly accompanied by genital reaction; (2) reward-related brain activity correlated with these pleasurable feelings in response to VSS; (3) a willingness to exert effort to view VSS similarly as for other rewarding stimuli such as money; and (4) conditioning for cues predictive of VSS. We hope that this perspective article will initiate a scientific discussion on this important and overlooked topic and increase attention for appropriate interpretations of results of human neuroimaging studies using VSS

What Is the Effect of Basic Emotions on Directed Forgetting? Investigating the Role of Basic Emotions in Memory

Studies presenting memory-facilitating effect of emotions typically focused on affective dimensions of arousal and valence. Little is known, however, about the extent to which stimulus-driven basic emotions could have distinct effects on memory. In the present paper we sought to examine the modulatory effect of disgust, fear and sadness on intentional remembering and forgetting using widely used item-method directed forgetting paradigm. Eighteen women underwent fMRI scanning during encoding phase in which they were asked either to remember (R) or to forget (F) pictures. In the test phase all previously used stimuli were re-presented together with the same number of new pictures and participants had to categorize them as old or new, irrespective of the F/R instruction. On the behavioral level we found a typical directed forgetting effect, i.e. higher recognition rates for to-be-remembered (TBR) items than to-be-forgotten (TBF) ones for both neutral and emotional categories. Emotional stimuli had higher recognition rate than neutral ones, while among emotional those eliciting disgust produced highest recognition, but at the same time induced more false alarms. Therefore when false alarm corrected recognition was examined the directed forgetting effect was equally strong irrespective of emotion. Additionally, even though subjects rated disgusting pictures as more arousing and negative than other picture categories, logistic regression on the item level showed that the effect of disgust on recognition memory was stronger than the effect of arousal or valence. On the neural level, ROI analyses (with valence and arousal covariates) revealed that correctly recognized disgusting stimuli evoked the highest activity in the left amygdala compared to all other categories. This structure was also more activated for remembered vs. forgotten stimuli, but only in case of disgust or fear eliciting pictures. Our findings, despite several limitations, suggest that disgust have a special salience in memory relative to other negative emotions, which cannot be put down to differences in arousal or valence. The current results thereby support the suggestion that a purely dimensional model of emotional influences on cognition might not be adequate to account for observed effects