Table 3.
Summary of Treatment Comparison Investigations for Primary Orgasmic Dysfunction
| Client characteristics | Treatment and control descriptions | Outcome | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | N | Age | Marital status |
Related conditions |
Systematic desensitization (SD) |
Sensate focus (SF) | Directed masturbation (DM) |
Other treatment | Control condition |
Measuresa | Termination | Follow-up interval |
Follow-up |
| Obler (1973) | 37b | Matched across groups | Individual SD with video-tapes; 15 weekly 45-min. sessions | Group psychoanalytic treatment with vid-cotapes; 10 weekly 1½-hr. sessions | Wait list | GSR and HR to sexual films; TMAS | SD>PA | ||||||
| Mathews etal. (1976) | 18 (13 primary; 5 secondary) | M = 28 | 17 of 18 reported low desire and arousal | Conjoint imaginal SD with partner participation; Counseling on sexual attitudes and beliefs; 10 weekly sessions | Conjoint SF; Counseling on sexual attitudes and beliefs; 10 weekly sessions | Sensate focus bibliotherapy; 3 sessions and weekly mailing for 10 weeks | Client, therapist, and independent assessor ratings | No difference between groups | 4 mo. | No difference between groups | |||
| Riley & Riley (1979) | 37 | M = 26 | Married | Conjoint SF; 6 weekly and 6 bi-monthly sessions | Conjoint SF and DM treatment; 6 weekly and 6 bimonthly sessions | Partner report | DM + SF > SF | ||||||
| Andersen (1981) | 30 | 19–42 M = 25 Mdn = 21 | 25 married or with partners; 5 w/o regular partners | Possible anxiety and/or aversion to sexual activity | Group SD; 10 biweekly sessions | Group DM; 10 bi-weekly sessions | Wait list | HBH; SII; SAI | SD = DM on SII self-acceptance; no change on measures of sexual anxiety; DM > SD on SAI; DM. > SD, WL on orgasmic response | 6 wks. | SD > DM on SII self-acceptance; DM = SD on SAI; DM > SD on orgasmic response | ||
a
All investigations included client self-report data. Abbreviations for other measures include: GSR, galvanic skin response; HBH, Heterosexual Behavior Hierarchy (Bentler, 1968); HR, heart rate; SAT, Sexual Arousability Index (Hoon, Hoon, & Wincze, 1976); SII, Sexual Interactipn Inventory (LoPiccolo & Steger, 1974); and TMAS, Manifest Anxiety Scale (Taylor, 1953).
b
These are summary statistics for all participants in this investigation, which included cases of primary orgasmic dysfunction as well as other sexual dysfunctions.