The role of absorption in women's sexual response to erotica : a cognitive-affective investigation

This study examined the effect of absorption on women's emotional and cognitive processing of erotic film. Absorption was experimentally manipulated using 2 different sets of test session instructions. The first, participant-oriented, instruction set directed participants to absorb themselves in the erotic film presentation, imagining that they were active participants in the sexual activities depicted. The second, spectator-oriented, instruction set directed participants to observe and assess the erotic film excerpt as impartial spectators. The participant-oriented instruction set was found to elicit greater subjective absorption in women than the spectator-oriented instruction set, and women reported greater subjective sexual arousal in the former set compared with the latter. Thus, it appears that the degree to which a woman becomes absorbed in an erotic stimulus may affect her subsequent subjective sexual arousal. Also, women reported greater degrees of positive affect when they took a participant-oriented perspective than when they viewed the erotic materials as impartial spectators. Thus, participants who were highly absorbed in the erotic film excerpt were more likely to view the stimulus favorably. By contrast, the degree to which women became absorbed in the stimulus had no effect on their reported negative affect. Future directions for examining female response patterns are suggested.

A conditional probability approach to risk assessment for child sexual offenders with different classes of victim

Specific scales were developed for discriminating child sexual offenders with different classes of victim. The project demonstrates a method of individualising scores on actuarial risk assessment measured in a way that makes them more meaningful for those involved in decision-making about individual child sexual offenders. At present, the only quantifiable approach to specific decision-making relies on a general prediction of future behaviour, based on group data. The Bayesian approach is one method that can be used to assist decision-makers to use this information in ways that lead to the more appropriate management of risk. Ultimately, the better management of known child sexual offenders will lead to fewer offences and a reduction in the number of children who lives are profoundly affected by sexual victimisation.

Conceptualizing women's sexual function : linear vs. circular models of sexual response

Introduction. The lack of an adequate empirical base for models of female sexual response is a critical issue within the female sexual dysfunction (FSD) literature.

Aim. The current research compared the extent to which a linear model of sexual response and Basson's circular model of female sexual response represent the sexual function of women with and without FSD.

Main Outcome Measures. Women's levels of sexual function/dysfunction were assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index and additional items measured women's endorsement of models of female sexual function as representing their own sexual experience.

Methods. An anonymous online survey assessing female sexual response and associated aetiological factors was completed by a random sample of 404 women.

Results. Although the linear model of sexual response was a good fit for women with and without sexual dysfunction, the relationship between sexual arousal and orgasm was mediated by sexual desire for women with FSD. The fit of the initial circular model of women's sexual response was poor for both groups. Following pathway modification, the modified circular model adequately represented the responses of both groups and revealed that a number of the relationships between sexual response variables were stronger for women with FSD.

Conclusions. The linear model was a more accurate representation of sexual response for women with normal sexual function than women with FSD and sexual arousal and orgasm was mediated by sexual desire for women with FSD. The modified circular model was a more accurate representation of the sexual response of women with FSD than women with normal sexual function.

Predicting the likelihood of voiced complaints in the self-service technology context

There is considerable evidence to suggest that consumer dissatisfaction with self-service technologies is widespread. However, there has been little conceptual or empirical scrutiny of the likelihood that consumers will complain to an organization (likelihood of voice) in this context. This study contributes to the service domain by testing empirically a model of the antecedents of consumers' likelihood of voice in unsatisfactory encounters with self-service technologies. A model is tested that combines established antecedents of voice, such as likelihood of voice success, and those that have not yet been considered, including self-service technology powerlessness and need to vent. The results support the proposed model in general. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Patterns of treatment of external genital warts in Australian sexual health clinics

Background: External genital warts are a common sexually transmitted viral disease. We describe the patterns of treatment for initial presentations of external genital warts (EGWs) in Australian sexual health centers.
Methods: This was a retrospective audit of 489 case notes from consecutive individuals who presented with a new diagnosis of EGWs to 1 of 5 major sexual health clinics in Australia. Eligibility criteria were consecutive patients aged 18 to 45 years inclusively, presenting with first ever episode of EGWs from January 1, 2004. Exclusion criteria were patients who were immunocompromised, including HIV infection, or enrollment in a treatment study for EGWs.
Results: The median age at presentation of women was 23.2 years and of men 26.8 years. One quarter (n = 127) of patients had another sexually transmitted infection diagnosed at presentation. Nearly half of the patients (n = 224) presented only once for treatment. Most often, patients were treated with a monotherapy (n = 382/489; 78%), usually cryotherapy (257; 53%). Staff applied treatment in 361 (74%) cases. There was wide variation across sites, possibly reflecting local policies and budgets. We found no difference in wart resolution (n = 292; 60%) by initial treatment chosen.
Conclusions: The diagnosis and treatment of genital warts constitute a sizable proportion of clinical visits to the audited sexual health services and require a large input of staff time to manage, including the application of topical treatments. Our results help complete the picture of the burden of EGWs on Australian sexual health centers before the introduction of the HPV vaccine.

Sexual content induced delay : a re-examination investigating relation to sexual desire

This article reports the utility of an information processing approach to examine whether there is a relationship between sexual content induced delay and levels of sexual desire as determined by self-report questionnaires. We tested this idea using a partial replication of the J. H. Geer and H. S. Bellard (1996) protocol demonstrating sexual content induced delay (SCID) in responding to sexual versus neutral words. In addition, the experiment examined whether SCID was different in people with varying levels of sexual desire. It was hypothesized that persons with low levels of sexual desire might respond more slowly to sexual word cues than others. Words with equal frequency of usage and similar word length were chosen from among those used in the Geer and Bellard study. The experiment was conducted with 171 volunteers who completed sexual desire questionnaires, lexical decision making tasks, and word ratings. The SCID effect was demonstrated by both men and women in the study with no significant variation between the sexes. In accordance with prediction, it was found that persons with lower levels of sexual desire responded more slowly to sexual stimuli than other participants, and rated sexual words as less familiar, less acceptable, and less positive emotionally to them. These findings have implications for understanding how emotional content contributes to SCID. They also suggest that further exploration of these ideas, perhaps using other stimulus modalities, may be helpful in advancing understanding of responses to sexual cues, and the potential implications that may have in better understanding sexual desire.