How Changes in Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Correspond to Variations in Female Sexual Response in a Nonclinical Sample of Young Women: a Daily Diary Study

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How Changes in Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Correspond to Variations in Female Sexual Response in a Nonclinical Sample of Young Women: a Daily Diary Study 2915 ORIGINAL RESEARCH—PSYCHOLOGY How Changes in Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Correspond to Variations in Female Sexual Response in a Nonclinical Sample of Young Women: A Daily Diary Study David A. Kalmbach, PhD,*† Sheryl A. Kingsberg, PhD,‡ and Jeffrey A. Ciesla, PhD† *Sleep and Chronophysiology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; †Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA; ‡Departments of Reproductive Biology and Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12692 ABSTRACT Introduction. A large body of literature supports the co-occurrence of depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction. However, the manner in which affective symptoms map onto specific female sexual response indices is not well understood. Aims. The present study aimed to examine changes in depression and anxiety symptoms and their correspondence to fluctuations in desire, subjective arousal, genital response, orgasmic function, and vaginal pain. Methods. The study used a 2-week daily diary approach to examine same-day and temporal relations between affective symptoms and sexual function. Main Outcome Measures. The unique relations between shared and disorder-specific symptoms of depression and anxiety (i.e., general distress, anhedonia, and anxious arousal) and female sexual response (i.e., desire, subjective arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasmic function, and sexual pain) were examined, controlling for baseline levels of sexual distress, depression, and anxiety, as well as age effects and menstruation. Results. Analyses revealed that changes in depression and anxiety severity corresponded to same-day variations in sexual response. Specifically, anhedonia (depression-specific symptom) was related to poorer same-day sexual desire, whereas greater anxious arousal (anxiety-specific symptom) was independently related to simultaneous increases in subjective sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication, and sexual pain. Increases in general distress (i.e., shared symptoms) were associated with greater same-day difficulties achieving orgasm. Notably, only one temporal relation was found; it indicated that higher levels of anhedonia predicted a next-day decrease in sexual desire. Conclusions. It is proposed that the simultaneous changes in affective symptoms and sexual function may indicate that they are products of shared underlying mechanisms. That is, in response to stress, the processes manifesting as feelings of weak positive affect and amotivation are the very same processes responsible for diminished capacity for sexual desire. In contrast, the physiological hyperarousal associated with anxiety also gives rise to sexual arousal difficulties and vaginal pain. Kalmbach DA, Kingsberg SA, and Ciesla JA. How changes in depression and anxiety symptoms correspond to variations in female sexual response in a nonclinical sample of young women: A daily diary study. J Sex Med 2014;11:2915–2927. Key Words. Depression; Anxiety; Female Sexual Function; Anhedonia; Sexual Desire; Sexual Arousal; Vaginal Pain Introduction severity of these sexual difficulties corresponds to the overall severity of the mood disorder [2], and large body of research has shown that women that depression can have a scarring effect on A who suffer from depression or anxiety expe- female sexual functioning even after remission rience greater sexual dysfunction [1], that the of affective symptoms [3]. Some evidence also © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine J Sex Med 2014;11:2915–2927 2916 Kalmbach et al. suggests that mood disorders constitute vulner- features of depression and anxiety, including fear, abilities to sexual dysfunction and vice versa [4]. sadness, low self-esteem, and feelings of being on Recently, studies have demonstrated that edge. As these features are common in both depression- and anxiety-specific symptoms map depression and anxiety, they do not distinguish onto different aspects of female sexual function between the two disorders. Specific to anxiety is [5,6]. Prospective assessments have shown that anxious arousal, characterized by physiological affective symptoms and sexual function indices hyperarousal symptoms, such as shaky hands, concurrently fluctuate within individuals. In other muscle tension, and shortness of breath. Unique to words, irrespective of diagnostic status for a mood depression is anhedonia, characterized by buffered disorder, when women become more depressed positive affect and diminished motivation. In other (even on the more healthy end of the depression words, just as sexual function is complex and symptom continuum), their desire decreases multifactorial with several correlated yet distinct simultaneously [6]. However, a number of meth- aspects consisting of desire, subjective arousal, odological limitations of past research have limited physiological arousal, and orgasmic function current knowledge. Notably, much of the current (among others), the structures of depression and literature is based on cross-sectional data. More- anxiety are intricate, with both shared and unique over, in the studies using repeated measures, components. Thus, as much of the current knowl- women reported their affective symptoms and edge is based on studies utilizing depression and sexual response over the prior week or longer [6]. anxiety measures that have focused on general dis- As evidence has supported concurrent relations, tress and other correlated symptoms (e.g., change assessment windows of a week or longer may have in appetite or sleep quality), disorder-specific failed to capture important variability in day-to- symptoms and their relations to these various day affective or sexual experiences, thus reducing aspects of sexual response have been largely statistical power to detect significant relations. To overlooked. address these limitations, the current study used Using the tripartite model of anxiety and ecological momentary sampling to examine daily depression, two studies have taken a changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety transdiagnostic approach to investigate the and corresponding variation in female sexual disorder-specific features facilitating the function. co-occurrence of depression, anxiety, and sexual Sexual complaints are common in the contexts dysfunction. First, Kalmbach et al. [5] used a of depression and anxiety in their many diagnostic cross-sectional design to examine interindividual forms (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, posttrau- differences in severity of anhedonia, anxious matic stress disorder) [1]. Importantly, these arousal, and general distress and their relations to studies suggest that diminished libido, arousal and female sexual response. Results indicated that orgasm difficulties, and sexual pain are similarly women with greater anhedonia reported lower reported among individuals with mood and anxiety desire, subjective arousal, vaginal lubrication, and disorders. However, given the high comorbidity orgasmic function, and greater sexual pain. In between mood and anxiety disorders, as well as comparison, women with greater anxious arousal their shared features resulting in overlapping items reported worse lubrication and greater pain. on measurement tools, prior research may have General distress was not independently related to been at a methodological disadvantage to detect any of these sexual function indices. These find- specificity between affective symptoms and sexual ings suggested that depression-specific symptoms response. Thus, it has been hypothesized that a (i.e., traitlike anhedonia) may constitute a vulner- transdiagnostic approach (i.e., examining both ability to a wide variety of female sexual dysfunc- overlapping and unique dimensions of clinical tions, whereas anxious arousal was more specific disorders) seeking to identify both shared and to genital response and sexual pain. Next, disorder-specific features facilitating these rela- Kalmbach and colleagues [6] examined intra- tions would offer a more nuanced understanding individual variations between the same con- of the interplay between affective and sexual health structs. Specifically, a sample of healthy [1,5,6]. premenopausal women reported weekly levels of Clark and Watson’s [7] tripartite model of affective symptoms and sexual function. Evidence anxiety and depression describes both shared and supported some specificity, such that when unique features of each disorder. Specifically, the women were more anhedonic, they experienced element of general distress represents the shared poorer libido and subjective arousal during the J Sex Med 2014;11:2915–2927 Depression, Anxiety, and Female Sexual Response 2917 same week. Additionally, when women felt more Methods anxiously aroused, they experienced simultaneous Participants changes in vaginal pain. Notably, the associations The participants and procedure of this study have between affective and sexual health indices were been described elsewhere [10]. One hundred more consistently concurrent than temporal. The seventy-one women (age 20.07 ± 3.32) partici- inability of a weeklong assessment window to pated in the present study. The sample was largely detect more transient fluctuations in affect and Caucasian (81.5%), with some ethnic diversity sexual response was identified as a potential observed (13.3% African American, 1.2% Latino methodological weakness. To illustrate, if Ms. A or Hispanic, 2.3% East Asian or Pacific Islander, experiences high levels of desire on Monday and and 1.8% “other”). Additionally,
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