title: Assessment of problematic sexual interests with the penile plethysmograph: an overview of assessment laboratories.
abstract: Phallometric testing, or penile plethysmography (PPG), is an objective measure of sexual arousal for males. While extensive research on the reliability and validity of PPG has promoted its reputation as the "gold standard" of objective measurement of sexual arousal, there is a lack of standardization of stimulus sets and interpretation of results between sites. This article describes the laboratory protocol employed for PPG at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre's Sexual Behaviours Clinic (SBC) in Ottawa, Ontario, as well as those used by the Sexual Behaviors Clinic and Lab (SBCL) in the Community and Public Safety Psychiatry Division (CPSPD) of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, South Carolina. The need for standardization in both testing protocol and stimuli use across sites are highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Forensic Program, The Royal's Sexual Behaviours Clinic, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranger
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Gregg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dwyer
authors.forename: J Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fedoroff
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D020010:Heterosexuality; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D010262:Paraphilic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010410:Penile Erection; D010413:Penis; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012577:Schools, Medical; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D013022:South Carolina; D014831:Voice