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Sexual functioning in women with eating disorders
Author(s) -
Pinheiro Andréa Poyastro,
Raney T.J.,
Thornton Laura M.,
Fichter Manfred M.,
Berrettini Wade H.,
Goldman David,
Halmi Katherine A.,
Kaplan Allan S.,
Strober Michael,
Treasure Janet,
Woodside D. Blake,
Kaye Walter H.,
Bulik Cynthia M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.20671
Subject(s) - libido , psychology , anxiety , sexual dysfunction , eating disorders , anorexia nervosa , decreased libido , clinical psychology , sexual desire , sexual intercourse , harm avoidance , disordered eating , bulimia nervosa , psychiatry , human sexuality , population , medicine , personality , big five personality traits , gender studies , social psychology , environmental health , sociology , psychoanalysis
Objective: To describe sexual functioning in women with eating disorders. Method: We assessed physical intimacy, libido, sexual anxiety, partner status, and sexual relationships in 242 women from the International Price Foundation Genetic Studies relative to normative data. Results: Intercourse (55.3%), having a partner (52.7%), decreased sexual desire (66.9%), and increased sexual anxiety (59.2%) were common. Women with restricting and purging anorexia nervosa had a higher prevalence of loss of libido than women with bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (75%, 74.6%, 39%, and 45.4%, respectively). Absence of sexual relationships was associated with lower minimum lifetime body mass index (BMI) and earlier age of onset; loss of libido with lower lifetime BMI, higher interoceptive awareness and trait anxiety; and sexual anxiety with lower lifetime BMI, higher harm avoidance and ineffectiveness. Sexual dysfunction in eating disorders was higher than in the normative sample. Discussion: Sexual dysfunction is common across eating disorders subtypes. Low BMI is associated with loss of libido, sexual anxiety, and avoidance of sexual relationships. © 2009 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2010