title: Convergent and discriminant validity of clitoral color Doppler ultrasonography as a measure of female sexual arousal.
abstract: We examined the convergent and discriminant validity of clitoral ultrasonography as a measure of female sexual arousal by assessing the following: (a) its ability to discriminate between sexual and other forms of arousal; and (b) its correlation with subjective ratings of arousal. Results from 63 healthy premenopausal women indicate that ultrasonography was not successful in differentiating sexual arousal from a humor control condition. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between clitoral blood-flow measures and subjective sexual arousal. Additional research is required to establish the specificity of ultrasonography as a measure of sexual arousal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kukkonen@ego.psych.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Tuuli M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kukkonen
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paterson
authors.forename: Yitzchak M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Binik
authors.forename: Rhonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amsel
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bouvier
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalifé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002987:Clitoris / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007989:Libido / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color / Q000379:methods