title: A Model of Female Sexual Desire: Internalized Working Models of Parent-Child Relationships and Sexual Body Self-Representations.
abstract: The etiology of low female sexual desire, the most prevalent sexual complaint in women, is multi-determined, implicating biological and psychological factors, including women's early parent-child relationships and bodily self-representations. The current study evaluated a model that hypothesized that sexual body self-representations (sexual subjectivity, self-objectification, genital self-image) explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between internalized working models of parent-child relationships (attachment, separation-individuation, parental identification) and sexual desire in heterosexual women. We recruited 614 young, heterosexual women (M = 25.5 years, SD = 4.63) through social media. The women completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling was used. The hypotheses were supported in that the relation between internalized working models of parent-child relationships (attachment and separation-individuation) and sexual desire was mediated by sexual body self-representations (sexual body esteem, self-objectification, genital self-image). However, parental identification was not related significantly to sexual body self-representations or sexual desire in the model. Current findings demonstrated that understanding female sexual desire necessitates considering women's internalized working models of early parent-child relationships and their experiences of their bodies in a sexual context. Treatment of low or absent desire in women would benefit from modalities that emphasize early parent-child relationships as well as interventions that foster mind-body integration.
authors.affiliation: Counseling and Psychological Services, Columbia Health, Columbia University, Alfred Lerner Hall, 8th Floor, 2920 Broadway, Mail Code 2606, New York, NY, 10027, USA. ec464@cumc.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3171-8715
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cherkasskaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, City College and Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosario
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007989:Libido; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012649:Self Concept; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment; Female sexual desire; Genital self-image; Self-objectification; Separation–individuation; Sexual subjectivity