High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and slow breathing interventions alleviate premature ejaculation (PE) symptoms.

Background: Physical exercise may alleviate premature ejaculation symptoms, a prevalent male sexual dysfunction linked to a series of negative outcomes for men and their partners. Objective: We investigated the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and slow breathing interventions on premature ejaculation symptoms and their relation to autonomic activity and attention regulation. Method: Chinese adult men (N = 76, M = 21.89, SD = 3.32) with premature ejaculation completed one of the two-week interventions in their homes or as participants in a normal breathing control group; they reported their age, height, weight, physical activity level, premature ejaculation symptoms, and attention regulation. In the HIIT group, 26 participants engaged in a 7-minute HIIT each day. In the slow breathing group, 25 participants performed 7-minute slow breathing exercises per day while the 25 participants in the normal breathing group similarly performed normal breathing exercises. All participants measured their heart rate once before and five times (with one-minute intervals) after the intervention. When participants had penile-vaginal sex with their partners, they measured their heart rate once after ejaculation. Results: Time × Intervention interaction was significant with lower levels of premature ejaculation symptoms on Days 12, 13, and 14 in the HIIT group (M ± SD = 16.19 ± 3.45, 15.96 ± 3.43, and 15.15 ± 3.62) compared to the normal breathing group (M ± SD = 17.68 ± 3.06, 17.68 ± 3.15, and 17.44 ± 3.25). Higher levels of attention regulation were associated with fewer premature ejaculation symptoms. We also found that a larger increase in heart rate from resting to after sex was associated with fewer premature ejaculation symptoms. Conclusion: Compared to the control group, the efficacy of two weeks of HIIT exercise in mitigating PE symptoms suggests its potential as a novel treatment for PE.

A 2-week high-intensity interval training intervention improves ejaculation control among men with premature ejaculation.

BACKGROUND: Premature ejaculation (PE), which leads to substantial distress in men and their partners, is a common male sexual dysfunction worldwide. However, there is still a lack of effective treatments without side effects. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on PE symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 92 Chinese men aged 18-36 to complete the experiment. There were 22 (13 in the control group; 9 in the HIIT group) men diagnosed with PE and 70 (41 in the control group; 29 in the HIIT group) men with normal ejaculatory function. In the HIIT group, participants completed HIIT exercises every morning for 14 days. Participants also completed surveys inquiring about demographic information, erectile function, PE symptoms, body image (including sexual body image), physical activity, and sexual desire. The heart rate was measured before and after each HIIT. In the control group, participants were instructed not to do HIIT, but other procedures were the same as in the HIIT group. RESULTS: Results indicated that the HIIT intervention alleviated PE symptoms in men with PE. In addition, in the HIIT group, men with PE who had a higher heart-rate increase during the HIIT intervention reported the greatest overall decrements in PE symptoms. In men with normal ejaculatory function, HIIT did not decrease PE symptoms. In addition, increments in the heart rate during the intervention were associated with more pronounced PE symptoms post-intervention in this group. Analyses of secondary outcome measures suggested that the HIIT intervention improved general and sexual body image satisfaction of men with PE compared to before the intervention. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In summary, HIIT intervention may reduce PE symptoms in men with PE. The heart-rate increase during the intervention may be a key factor influencing the effect of the HIIT intervention on PE symptoms.

Altered reward processing in patients with lifelong premature ejaculation.

Given that sexual behavior is usually pleasurable and highly rewarding, it is surprising that there is as yet no known research to empirically assess how premature ejaculation (PE) patients respond to the rewarding aspect of sexual behavior. This study was designed to address this issue by evaluating how these men respond to the anticipation and hedonic experience of sexual rewards in comparison to non-sexual rewards. Thirty lifelong PE patients and thirty healthy controls (HCs) performed the incentive delay task manipulating both erotic and monetary rewards. Compared to HCs, lifelong PE patients exhibited significantly faster RTs to erotic cues than to monetary cues during reward anticipation. Meanwhile, hedonic experience ratings after obtaining the actual reward showed that erotic rewards were rated as more pleasant than monetary rewards only by lifelong PE patients, which was driven by a decreased sensitivity to experienced monetary rewards in lifelong PE patients compared to HCs. These findings indicate the existence of dysfunctional reward processing in lifelong PE patients, which is characterized by increased incentive motivation elicited by sexual cues and reduced hedonic impact of nonsexual rewards. This study may offer an insightful clue regarding how PE is related to the abnormal regulation of the rewarding aspect of sexual behavior.

Effects of physical exercise interventions on ejaculation control.

INTRODUCTION: Premature ejaculation is a prevalent male sexual dysfunction that causes significant distress for men and their partners on a global scale. Despite its widespread impact, effective treatment options without undesirable side effects remain limited. OBJECTIVES: The present review aimed to provide an overview of experimental studies that analyzed the effects of physical exercise interventions on premature ejaculation. METHODS: The inclusion criteria for the review included: Population: Adult men. Intervention: An intervention designed to increase physical exercise was delivered in the study. Comparison: Before versus after intervention with or without a comparison group receiving a drug treatment or an active or no control intervention. Outcomes: Self-reported or clinician-rated premature ejaculation or its symptoms. Study type: Experimental designs. We conducted the search process in 9 databases: APA PsycNET, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Embase, and CAB Direct. This review included six intervention studies that included 433 participants (307 men with premature ejaculation) ranging from 18 to 50 years of age. All participants had a stable female sexual partner and had not any other physical or mental problems. RESULTS: The synthesized results indicated that yoga, running, and high-intensity interval training alleviate premature ejaculation symptoms in men with premature ejaculation after varying intervention duration times. The effectiveness of physical exercise for premature ejaculation symptoms was similar to that of drug treatments. CONCLUSION: Physical exercise can be one of the potential treatment modalities for premature ejaculation. The intensity of physical exercise and the effort of participants during exercise are key factors affecting improvements in ejaculation control. A potential limitation was that the review did not include any literature written in non-English languages.

One and a half centuries of serial homicide in Italy: offender, victim and offence characteristics.

The present study reports offender, victim and offence characteristics of the entire population of known serial homicide offenders identified in Italy between 1848 and 2019 (59 offenders, 244 victims, of whom 50.4% were men, and 21.7% were sex workers). We found that most of the offenders (72.4%) had a personality disorder. The offenders' age during their series was 35.1 (SD = 11.3) years, on average. Sexual elements were found in 28.4% of the crime scenes. The median time interval between homicides was 2.8 months. Also, we investigated the consistency of the offence characteristics over the series and found significant correlations between the offence characteristics between a previous and the subsequent homicide.

An Experiment Using a Sexual Strategies Explanation to Alleviate Internalized Homophobia Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China.

Some men who have sex with men (MSM) having more casual sex and sexual partners is interpreted to be a sign of mental disorder and used to justify negative attitudes toward them by some. MSM may internalize this attitude causing internalized homophobia (IH). According to the sexual strategies theory, MSM having more casual sex is the result of differences between men's and women's sexual strategies and is unrelated to sexual orientation. We investigated whether this explanation would reduce IH and improve mental health in MSM. We recruited 255 Chinese MSM online using Wenjuanxing, Douban, Weibo, Tieba, and Blued and divided them using simple randomization into an experimental group (n = 77; sexual strategies explanation provided), an active control group (n = 99; minority stress explanation provided), and a control group (n = 79; no intervention) with pretest (N = 255); a 1 week post-test (n = 195); and a 1 month follow-up test (n = 170) of outcome measures. IH, mental distress (MD), sort-term mating orientation, and risky sexual behaviors were measured online. The data were analyzed by SPSS 28. IH was associated with MD while being married was associated with IH and sexual contact with women with both more IH and MD as were not being masculine and self-identifying as straight. The sexual strategies explanation reduced IH related to pathologizing sexual behaviors and high-risk sexual behaviors while the minority stress explanation reduced MD. Providing a sexual strategies explanation may be used to de-stigmatize casual sex among MSM.

Actual and Desired Masturbation Frequency, Sexual Distress, and Their Correlates.

We investigated the prevalence of problematic masturbation using different criteria. We also investigated if masturbation-related distress was associated with sexual abuse history, family attitudes towards sexuality during childhood, and depression and anxiety symptoms. Here, 12,271 Finnish men and women completed a survey reporting masturbation frequency, desired masturbation frequency, sexual distress, childhood sexual abuse, sex-positive family background, as well as depression and anxiety symptoms. Among both sexes, those whose masturbation frequency did not match with desired frequency experienced more sexual distress. Different conceptualizations of problematic masturbation resulted in different proportions of individuals categorized as having it (i.e., 8.3% of men and 2.7% of women experienced self-perceived problematic masturbation, that is masturbating more than they desired and experiencing sexual distress; 2% of men and 0.6% of women masturbated more frequently than average and meanwhile experienced self-perceived problematic masturbation; 6.3% of men and 2.1% of women masturbated less frequently than average but still experienced self-perceived problematic masturbation). Moreover, among both sexes, self-perceived problematic masturbation was positively associated with childhood sexual abuse, depression, and anxiety, while negatively associated with a sex-positive family background. Our results point to the complexity of defining problematic masturbation. Causes of sexual distress related to masturbation need to be carefully examined case by case to choose an appropriate clinical approach.

An experimental study using a sexual strategies explanation to reduce homophobia toward gay men among lay people and healthcare professionals in China.

Introduction: Homophobic discrimination and stigmatization, especially from healthcare professionals, are important stressors for gay men. Homophobia may be partly rooted in seeing some gay men having casual sex and many sexual partners as a signal of mental problems. Sexual Strategies Theory (SST) suggests that such sexual behavior is a result of different sexual strategies men and women tend to adopt and is unrelated to sexual orientation per se. This study aimed to investigate (1) the effectiveness of providing an SST explanation for gay men's sexual behavior in reducing homophobia among both lay persons and healthcare professionals; (2) differences in homophobia between healthcare professionals and lay people and also between medical and non-medical professionals. Methods: The main analyses included 492 heterosexual participants recruited online via Chinese social media and sample services in 2021. Of these, 227 were healthcare professionals (128 medical, 99 non-medical) and 265 were lay people. The participants were randomly assigned into an experimental group given the SST explanation (n = 126), an active control group given a Minority Stress (MS) explanation (n = 184), and a control group (n = 182). After the manipulation, homophobia, knowledge about homosexuality, professional homophobic attitude, gay affirmative practice, and contact with gay men were assessed. Results: The results of factor analysis suggested dividing homophobia into Oppressing Homophobia (Oppressing HP) describing believing that gay men should have fewer rights and Pathologizing Homophobia (Pathologizing HP) describing believing that the sexual behavior of gay men is a signal of mental problem. Importantly, the SST explanation reduced Pathologizing HP while the MS explanation reduced Oppressing HP. Healthcare professionals reported more Oppressing HP than lay people, and medical professionals conducted less gay affirmative practice than non-medical professionals. Conclusion: An SST explanation can potentially reduce some aspects of homophobia among both healthcare professionals and lay people. Also, worryingly, Chinese healthcare professionals, especially medical professionals, reported more homophobia than lay individuals.

Associations between sexually submissive and dominant behaviors and sexual function in men and women.

The current study investigated the associations between sexually submissive and dominant behaviors and sexual dysfunction in Finnish men and women. We analyzed three population-based data sets from 2006, 2009, and 2021-2022, including 29,821 participants in total. Participants filled out a questionnaire about their sexually submissive and dominant behaviors, Sexual Distress Scale, Checklist for Early Ejaculation Symptoms and International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire-5 (men), and Female Sexual Function Index (women). Pearson Correlations showed that for both sexes, sexually submissive (men: r = 0.119, p < 0.001; women: r = 0.175, p < 0.001) and dominant (men: r = 0.150, p < 0.001; women: r = 0.147, p < 0.001) behaviors were both associated with more sexual distress. However, for men, sexually submissive (r = -0.126, p < 0.001) and dominant behaviors (r = -0.156, p < 0.001) were associated with less early ejaculation symptoms. Both sexually submissive (r = 0.040, p = 0.026) and dominant behaviors (r = 0.062, p < 0.001) were also associated with better erectile function while sexually dominant behavior alone was associated with better orgasmic function (r = 0.049, p = 0.007), intercourse satisfaction (r = 0.068, p < 0.001), and overall satisfaction (r = 0.042, p = 0.018). For women, both sexually submissive (r = 0.184, p < 0.001) and dominant behaviors (r = 0.173, p < 0.001) were also associated with better overall female sexual function. One possible explanation is that these individuals have a clear idea of what they prefer sexually facilitating arousal. Particularly, sexually submissive behavior may reduce high-level self-awareness and, in this way, contribute to reduced performance anxiety. However, non-normative interests seem to simultaneously result in increased sexual distress probably due to the absence of self-acceptance. Further research about the causal mechanisms between non-normative sexual interest and sexual function is needed.

Bidirectional relationship between sexual arousal and (sex-related) disgust.

Sexual stimuli provoke both sexual arousal and disgust, and the coaction between these emotions determines sexually behavioral outcomes. The current research includes two experiments to explore the bidirectional relationship between sexual arousal toward erotic stimuli and disgust induced by sexual body fluids. Study 1 presented 234 participants (117 women) with sexual body (vs. neutral) fluids followed by erotic stimuli, and Study 2 presented 235 participants (117 women) with erotic (vs. neutral) videos followed by sexual body fluids (and a non-sex-related stimulus). Study 1 showed that exposure to sexual body fluids reduced sexual arousal and the likelihood of sexual engagement toward erotic stimuli in participants with high sexual disgust sensitivity but increased sexual arousal and the likelihood of sexual engagement in participants with low sexual disgust sensitivity, while Study 2 suggested that men exposed to erotic (vs. neutral) stimuli reported lower disgust, stronger sexual arousal state, and higher willingness to interact with the sexual body fluids. There was no relationship between subjective feelings of sexual arousal and disgust in these experiments, while the balance of sexual arousal and disgust toward sexual body fluids and erotic stimuli had a positive association. Also, exposure to erotic stimuli had no effect on reactions to generally disgusting stimulus, but feelings of sexual arousal toward erotic stimuli were positively associated with disgust induced by generally disgusting fluid. These findings suggest that Behavior Immune System regulates disgust to establish a balance between benefit and cost related to sex as well as provide insight into the process underlying sexual dysfunctions.

Elucidating the role of negative parenting in the genetic v. environmental influences on adult psychopathic traits.

BACKGROUND: Psychopathic traits involve interpersonal manipulation, callous affect, erratic lifestyle, and antisocial behavior. Though adult psychopathic traits emerge from both genetic and environmental risk, no studies have examined etiologic associations between adult psychopathic traits and experiences of parenting in childhood, or the extent to which parenting practices may impact the heritability of adult psychopathic traits using a genetically-informed design. METHODS: In total, 1842 adult twins from the community reported their current psychopathic traits and experiences of negative parenting during childhood. We fit bivariate genetic models to the data, decomposing the variance within, and the covariance between, psychopathic traits and perceived negative parenting into their genetic and environmental components. We then fit a genotype × environment interaction model to evaluate whether negative parenting moderated the etiology of psychopathic traits. RESULTS: Psychopathic traits were moderately heritable with substantial non-shared environmental influences. There were significant associations between perceived negative parenting and three of four psychopathy facets (interpersonal manipulation, erratic lifestyle, antisocial tendencies, but not callous affect). These associations were attributable to a common non-shared environmental pathway and not to overlapping genetic effects. Additionally, we found that primarily shared environmental influences were stronger on psychopathic traits for individuals with a history of greater negative parenting. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing a genetically-informed design, we found that both genetic and non-shared environmental factors contribute to the emergence of psychopathic traits. Moreover, perceptions of negative parenting emerged as a clear environmental influence on the development of interpersonal, lifestyle, and antisocial features of psychopathy.

Effects of combining feedback and hypothesis-testing on the quality of simulated child sexual abuse interviews with avatars among Chinese university students.

Previous research has shown that simulation training using avatars with repeated feedback improves child sexual abuse interview quality. The present study added a hypothesis-testing intervention and examined if the combination of two interventions, feedback and hypothesis-testing, would improve interview quality compared to no intervention and to either intervention alone. Eighty-one Chinese university students were randomly assigned to a control, feedback, hypothesis-testing, or the combination of feedback and hypothesis-testing group and conducted five simulated child sexual abuse interviews online. Depending on the assigned group, feedback on the outcome of the cases and question types used in the interview were provided after each interview, and/or the participants built hypotheses based on preliminary case information before each interview. The combined interventions group and feedback group showed a higher proportion of recommended questions and correct details from the 3rd interview onward compared to the hypothesis-building and control groups. The difference between the number of correct conclusions was not significant. hypothesis-testing alone exacerbated the use of non-recommended questions over time. The results show that hypothesis-testing may impact question types used negatively but not when combined with feedback. The potential reasons for hypothesis-testing alone not being effective and the differences between the present and previous studies were discussed.

Premature ejaculation among Chinese urban men: prevalence and correlates.

Background: Premature ejaculation (PE) is a common male sexual dysfunction worldwide. It leads to substantial distress in men and their partners, constitutes a serious threat to the quality and stability of romantic relationships, and results in a decreased quality of life in a large part of the population. Aim: We investigated the prevalence of PE and correlated factors in an urban sample of Chinese men. Methods: In total, 1976 Chinese men aged 18 to 50 years responded to an online questionnaire regarding background information, present and previous sexual experience, frequency of different types of sex, as well as erectile and ejaculatory function. Outcomes: Participants' age, assigned sex at birth, sexual identity, relationship status, present and previous sexual experience, frequency of sexual activities, International Index of Erectile Function-5, and Checklist for Early Ejaculation Symptoms were used in the analyses. Results: Forty-four (2.3%) participants had scores that were indicative or strongly indicative of PE, which was highly correlated with erectile problems. Men with more sexual experience (ie, more sexual partners and longer duration of being sexually active) had fewer ejaculatory problems. More frequent masturbation was associated with ejaculatory problems when controlling for age and education. More frequent partnered sex (ie, penile-vaginal sex) was associated with fewer ejaculatory problems. Ejaculation latency times for different types of sexual activities were positively correlated. Clinical Translation: The results indicated that ejaculatory problems have complex relationships with sexual experience that clinicians should be aware of. Strengths and Limitations: This study was the first to investigate PE with the Checklist for Early Ejaculation Symptoms as the measurement tool and the associations between PE and sexual experience, frequency of sexual activities, and sexual function in a large Chinese sample. However, self-reported ejaculation latency times may suffer from problems with validity. Conclusion: Men's sexual experience (ie, more sexual partners and longer duration of being sexually active) has an effect on their sexual function, which in turn affects their sexual activity.

Associations between emotions and psychophysiological states and confirmation bias in question formulation in ongoing simulated investigative interviews of child sexual abuse.

Introduction: In forensic settings interviewers are advised to ask as many open-ended questions as possible. However, even experts may have difficulty following this advice potentially negatively impacting an investigation. Here, we sought to investigate how emotions and psychophysiological parameters are associated with question formulation in real time in an ongoing (simulated) child sexual abuse (CSA) interview. Method: In a experimental study, psychology students (N = 60, Mage = 22.75) conducted two interviews with child avatars, while their emotions (anger, sadness, disgust, surprise and relief), GSR and heart rate (HR) were registered. Results: First, we found that general emotionality related to CSA and perceived realness of the avatars was associated with stronger overall emotional reactions. Second, we found that closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by more facially observable anger, but not disgust, sadness, surprise or relief. Third, closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by higher GSR resistance and lower heart rate. Discussion: Results suggest for the first time that emotions and psychophysiological states can drive confirmation bias in question formulation in real time in CSA.

AI avatar tells you what happened: The first test of using AI-operated children in simulated interviews to train investigative interviewers.

Previous research has shown that simulated child sexual abuse (CSA) interview training using avatars paired with feedback and modeling improves interview quality. However, to make this approach scalable, the classification of interviewer questions needs to be automated. We tested an automated question classification system for these avatar interviews while also providing automated interventions (feedback and modeling) to improve interview quality. Forty-two professionals conducted two simulated CSA interviews online and were randomly provided with no intervention, feedback, or modeling after the first interview. Feedback consisted of the outcome of the alleged case and comments on the quality of the interviewer's questions. Modeling consisted of learning points and videos illustrating good and bad questioning methods. The total percentage of agreement in question coding between human operators and the automated classification was 72% for the main categories (recommended vs. not recommended) and 52% when 11 subcategories were considered. The intervention groups improved from first to second interview while this was not the case in the no intervention group (intervention x time: p = 0.007, ηp 2 = 0.28). Automated question classification worked well for classifying the interviewers' questions allowing interventions to improve interview quality.

An Agent-Based Model of Sex and Sexual Orientation Differences in Short-Term Mating Behaviors as a Result of Mating Preferences.

Sex differences in short-term mating behaviors are well-documented in human sexuality research. Existing studies usually explain sex differences in sexual behaviors through differences in mating preferences, which is theoretically problematic. Using an agent-based model, we investigated the circumstances under which males' and females' differential preferences for short-term mating would result in sex differences in short-term mating behaviors. The model showed that when all individuals in a closed heterosexual population were considered, males and females had the same average number of short-term mating experiences and short-term mates even when males had stronger preferences for short-term mating. Males (vs. females) had a higher average number of both experiences and mates when analyses were limited to only heterosexual males and females who successfully participated in the mating pool (i.e., those with a non-zero number of short-term mating experiences). Moreover, when males (vs. females) had stronger preferences for short-term mating, gay males had a higher average number of experiences and mates compared to both lesbian females and heterosexual males. These results suggest that even when sex differences in mating preferences exist, the sex differences in short-term mating behaviors only occur among particular populations, or when males' preferences for short-term mating are not constrained by those of females. Suggestions for future research in human mating psychology and behaviors were provided.

Effects of Ginger on Disgust, Sexual Arousal, and Sexual Engagement: A Placebo-Controlled Experiment.

Sexual problems are common complaints across countries and cultures, and behavioral immune system theory suggests disgust plays an essential role in sexual functioning. The current study investigated 1) if disgust induced by sexual body fluids would reduce sexual arousal, reduce the likelihood of sexual engagement, and enhance disgust toward subsequent erotic stimuli, and 2) if the administration of ginger would affect these reactions. We administered either ginger or placebo pills to a sample of 247 participants (Mage = 21.59, SD = 2.52; 122 women) and asked them to complete either behavioral approach tasks with sexual body fluids or with neutral fluids. Next, participants viewed and responded to questions concerning erotic stimuli (nude and seminude pictures of opposite-sex models). As expected, the sexual body fluids tasks induced disgust. The elevated disgust induced by sexual body fluids tasks resulted in lower sexual arousal in women, whereas ginger consumption counteracted this inhibiting effect of disgust on sexual arousal. Disgust elicited by sexual body fluids also increased disgust toward the subsequent erotic stimuli. Ginger increased sexual arousal toward the erotic stimuli in both men and women who had completed the neutral fluids tasks. Findings provide further evidence of the role of disgust in sexual problems, and, importantly, that ginger may improve the sexual function of individuals via its sexual arousal-enhancing effect.

The lifetime prevalence of child sexual abuse assessed in young adults in Lithuania.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the prevalence of different types of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in Lithuania focusing on how these experiences were related to victim's age and relationship to the perpetrator. METHODS: The participants came from a representative household survey of youth aged 18-29 and the sample consisted of 2000 participants (47.7 % women) with a mean age of 23.9 years (SD = 3.6). The ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool Retrospective version (ICAST-R, Dunne et al., 2009) for young adults was used to investigate childhood exposure to CSA. Both current sociodemographic information and information on circumstances during childhood (e.g., number of siblings, family members with whom the participant lived between 7 and 12 year of age) were collected. RESULTS: The prevalence of any CSA experience before the age of 18 was 15.9 %, with higher rates for women (13.5 % and 18.5 % for men and women, respectively). Being spoken to in a sexual way or sexual things being written about the person was the most prevalent form of CSA. In contrast, number of victims that reported sexual intercourse was much lower. The most common type of perpetrator was another young person. Intrafamilial CSA was rare with higher risk in step-relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides representative prevalence estimates of the CSA in a region for which such estimates were not previously available. These Lithuanian estimates correspond well with previous literature. Importantly, the findings point to peers being an important perpetrator group in CSA cases. This and other findings can inform the planning of relevant policy measures and actions to both prevent CSA and investigate cases effectively.

Neuroelectric Correlates of Human Sexuality: A Review and Meta-Analysis.

Many reviews on sexual arousal in humans focus on different brain imaging methods and behavioral observations. Although neurotransmission in the brain is mainly performed through electrochemical signals, there are no systematic reviews of the electrophysiological correlates of sexual arousal. We performed a systematic search on this subject and reviewed 255 studies including various electrophysiological methods. Our results show how neuroelectric signals have been used to investigate genital somatotopy as well as basic genital physiology during sexual arousal and how cortical electric signals have been recorded during orgasm. Moreover, experiments on the interactions of cognition and sexual arousal in healthy subjects and in individuals with abnormal sexual preferences were analyzed as well as case studies on sexual disturbances associated with diseases of the nervous system. In addition, 25 studies focusing on brain potentials during the interaction of cognition and sexual arousal were eligible for meta-analysis. The results showed significant effect sizes for specific brain potentials during sexual stimulation (P3: Cohen's d = 1.82, N = 300, LPP: Cohen's d = 2.30, N = 510) with high heterogeneity between the combined studies. Taken together, our review shows how neuroelectric methods can consistently differentiate sexual arousal from other emotional states.

Predictors of attitudes toward potentially having a lesbian, gay, or bisexual child among Chinese heterosexual adults.

Parental acceptance is a robust protective factor for lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) individuals' mental health, yet its predictors have not been frequently studied in China. The present study examined predictors of Chinese heterosexual adults' attitudes toward potentially having an LGB child. Participants were 700 Chinese nationals (37.6% women and 62.4% men) aged 18-64 who identified as exclusively heterosexual and did not have an LGB child. We found that beliefs about the changeability of sexual orientation and beliefs in negative outcomes of being LGB predicted negative attitudes toward having an LGB child in domains of emotion, cognition, and behavior. Moreover, more exposure to LGB individuals predicted reduced disapproval and negative actions as well as increased positive actions. These findings revealed the key factors to changing Chinese people's attitudes toward having an LGB child. Clinical implications for therapists and counselors working with Chinese LGB individuals and their parents are discussed.