Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Psychiatry, 3202 Clinical sciences, 4203 Health services and systems, 5203 Clinical and health psychology

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of an investigation of 243 men who have sex with men. Participants were recruited using a range of strategies including both on-line and community-based venues, programs, and word of mouth. Participants must have had sex with a man in the last 90-days, have no indications of major thought disorder or cognitive dysfunction, and had to be at least 18 years of age. Participants were assigned to either a hypersexual disorder or comparison group based on a SCID-type interview. Data included three cognitive tasks, a self-report computer administered questionnaire, and a psychophysiological assessment of sexual arousal following mood induction. Results showed group differences in personality factors, sexual behavioral control, and experiences of sexual urges and fantasies. Sexual behavior control was related to sexual excitation and sexual inhibition, but not more general behavioral arousal or behavior inhibition. Hypersexual participants showed lower levels of physiological arousal during the laboratory procedure, but did not show differences in inhibition of arousal by negative affect. The findings will be discussed in the context of the controversies surrounding hypersexual disorder and their implications for HIV transmission and risk.