Citation

Rellini AH, Hamilton LD, Delville Y, Meston CM. J. Trauma. Stress 2009; 22(6): 557-565.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05461, USA. arellini@uvm.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20458

PMID

19960549

PMCID

PMC2798922

Abstract

Many women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) experience difficulties becoming sexually aroused. This study measured cortisol and physiological sexual arousal during exposure to sexual stimuli in women with and without a history of CSA. Childhood sexual abuse survivors showed a smaller decrease in cortisol during sexual arousal than the nonsexually abused, control group potentially due to an increase in cortisol in some of the participants in the CSA group. Physiological sexual arousal was weaker in CSA survivors compared to women with no history of sexual abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms showed characteristics consistent with mediation for the relationship between a history of CSA and inhibited sexual arousal responses.

Language: en