Longitudinal associations between mindfulness and changes to body image in first-time parent couples.

Pregnancy and postpartum are associated with declines in body image. Research on postpartum body image focuses almost exclusively on the person who gave birth and studies examining protective factors for postpartum body image are scarce. We assessed 257 new-parent couples from mid-pregnancy to 6-months postpartum to examine whether mindfulness-a recognized contributor to psychological well-being-buffered against declines in both partners' perceptions of mothers' body. Mothers' positive body image and partners' perception of mothers' body were collected at four time-points (second and third trimester; 3- and 6-months postpartum); both partners' mindfulness facets-observing, describing, awareness acting, non-judgement, and non-reactivity-were assessed in the second trimester. Dyadic latent growth curve modeling revealed that both partners' perceptions of mothers' body were positively correlated at all moments; however, mothers' positive body image worsened over time, whereas partners' perception of mothers' body remained stable. Mindfulness facets were positively associated with mothers' positive body image (observe, describe, and non-judging) and fathers' (non-judging) perceptions of mothers' body in pregnancy. Mothers' mindfulness facets (acting with awareness, non-judging) were associated with subsequent trajectories of their own body image. By identifying mindfulness facets as targetable protective factors during pregnancy, these findings have implications for future research and interventions focused on perinatal body image.

Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel design trial of the efficacy and safety of Zestra in women with mixed desire/interest/arousal/orgasm disorders.

Over 256 women, age 21 to 65, with acquired mixed female sexual disorders participated in a 16-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of Zestra, a topical botanical preparation. Routine outcome instruments measured efficacy and safety. Zestra was well tolerated. The only significant safety finding was mild-to-moderate genital burning seen only in Zestra-treated subjects (14.6%). Zestra provided significant desire, arousal, and treatment satisfaction benefits for a broadly generalized group of women with sexual difficulties.

Acute dehydroepiandrosterone effects on sexual arousal in premenopausal women.

The present investigation was designed to provide the first empirical examination of the effects of acute dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration on subjective and physiological sexual arousal in women. The primary purpose was to assess whether DHEA influences vaginal blood flow response in sexually functional women. Subjective (self-report) and physiological (vaginal photoplethysmograph) sexual responses to erotic stimuli were measured following DHEA (300 mg) and placebo administration in 12 sexually functional, premenopausal women, using a single-blind protocol. Acute DHEA significantly increased blood levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) 30 min following drug administration but had no significant effect on either vaginal pulse amplitude responses or subjective responses to the erotic films. Acute DHEA does not appear to substantially influence sexual responding among sexually functional, premenopausal women.