title: Sexual dysfunction in depression and anxiety: conceptualizing sexual dysfunction as part of an internalizing dimension.
abstract: Sexual dysfunction is often implicated in depression and anxiety disorders, but the current nosology of sexual dysfunction, depression, and anxiety (i.e., DSM-IV) does not adequately address these relationships. Because recent papers (Krueger, R. F., & Markon, K. E. (2006). Reinterpreting comorbidity: A model-based approach to understanding and classifying psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2, 111-133) have suggested and provided evidence for latent internalizing and externalizing dimensions that help explain high comorbidity between mental disorders, the current paper suggests that sexual dysfunction might conceptually belong to a latent internalizing factor. To address this, evidence is presented for the relationship among disorders of sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm comorbid with depression and anxiety. A review of sexual disorders is also presented along with a critical examination of the way the current DSM is organized with respect to sexual dysfunction, depression, and anxiety.
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227, USA. slaurent@uoregon.edu
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: Anne D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Simons
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*