Abstract
Depressed young people may have sexual intercourse (sex) to regulate their disordered affective states. This study sought
to determine how momentary positive and negative affect relate to subsequent sex events in depressed adolescents and young
adults. Fifty-four outpatients (87% female) 15–22 years who reported clinically significant depressive symptoms and having
sex at least once a week completed a baseline survey, then reported momentary affective states and the occurrence of sex events
on a handheld computer in response to 4–6 random signals per day for 2 weeks. Participants identified 387 unique sex events
(median, 3.5/participant/week) on 3,159 reports (median, signal response rate 80%). Most (86–96%) reported low burden of participation
on questions asked at study completion. Similar to what has been reported in non-depressed young people, momentary positive
and negative affect were both improved beginning approximately 6 h before until approximately 6 h after a sex event. Positive
affect was lower in the 24 h before this pericoital period, compared to other times. Negative affect did not significantly
differ between before the pericoital period and other times. The findings suggest that depressed youth may have sex to regulate
their positive affect and have implications for provision of their mental and physical health care.
to determine how momentary positive and negative affect relate to subsequent sex events in depressed adolescents and young
adults. Fifty-four outpatients (87% female) 15–22 years who reported clinically significant depressive symptoms and having
sex at least once a week completed a baseline survey, then reported momentary affective states and the occurrence of sex events
on a handheld computer in response to 4–6 random signals per day for 2 weeks. Participants identified 387 unique sex events
(median, 3.5/participant/week) on 3,159 reports (median, signal response rate 80%). Most (86–96%) reported low burden of participation
on questions asked at study completion. Similar to what has been reported in non-depressed young people, momentary positive
and negative affect were both improved beginning approximately 6 h before until approximately 6 h after a sex event. Positive
affect was lower in the 24 h before this pericoital period, compared to other times. Negative affect did not significantly
differ between before the pericoital period and other times. The findings suggest that depressed youth may have sex to regulate
their positive affect and have implications for provision of their mental and physical health care.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-11
- DOI 10.1007/s10508-011-9787-4
- Authors
- Lydia A. Shrier, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Henry A. Feldman, Clinical Research Program, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA
- Shimrit K. Black, Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Courtney Walls, Clinical Research Program, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA
- Ashley D. Kendall, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Christopher Lops, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- William R. Beardslee, Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA
- Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Online ISSN 1573-2800
- Print ISSN 0004-0002