The dimension perspective applied to sexual disorders

Many sexual disorders and problems are rooted in the failure of the individual to respond adequately to the demands of his or her life situation. A timid man is apprehensive about sexual engagement with his partner; he has experienced erectile failure in the past and now worries that this will repeat. An intellectually challenged young woman initiates affection with a new male acquaintance; she is unaware of the sexual signals she is giving to this relative stranger and the possible risk to which she is exposing herself. Both the timid man and the cognitively challenged woman are likely to encounter problems because of the combination of external factors with their unique limitations or vulnerabilities – viagra sydney online.

The dimension perspective does not attempt to search out the causes of the traits or the behaviors. It is not within the scope of the dimension perspective to ask why the man is timid or what genetic or physiological factors were responsible for the woman’s congenital cognitive deficits. Its more modest task is to measure cross-section ally the personality and intelligence resources available to each individual and to hypothesize how these strengths and vulnerabilities might be expected to respond in the individual’s particular life situation.

The dimension perspective also attends to sexual behaviors that have been measured and counted in a population. The prevalence of a behavior (e.g., high-risk sexual behavior) in the population and how frequently it is practiced by different groups of people (e.g., minority adolescents) are of interest to the dimension perspective. Alfred Kinsey initiated this type of data gathering in the 1940s. More recently, and with more advanced scientific sampling resources, epidemiological studies such as the one conducted by Edward Laumann and colleagues at the University of Chicago have provided vast amounts of data that—even a decade later, in the case of Laumann’s study—can be mined for the information they provide about sexual behaviors among adults in the United States. Less helpful are the “sex surveys” given banner headlines in the tabloids. These are, in fact, sources of misinformation and faulty generalizations of sexual behaviors.

Reliable and valid inventories have been developed to aid in the dimensional quantification of sexual behaviors and attitudes. Table lists some that have been carefully developed and used in published research. Instruments such as these provide information that either confirms sexual behaviors the patient has reported or adds additional information not gathered in the clinical interview. Both results are helpful. Consistency between the self-report by interview and by inventory lends credibility to the information conveyed by the patient. If there is a divergence between interview and inventory, either the patient was confused about what was asked in the face-to-face interview or in the privately completed inventory, or one of the formats (usually the inventory) provided a safer context in which to report accurately the sexual behaviors in question.

In terms of treatment: viagra in canada, the dimension perspective provides information about the strengths and vulnerabilities the individual brings to therapy as well as possible goals of treatment. For example, if the timid man with erectile dysfunction also has high Conscientiousness (as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory–Revised, or NEO-PI-R, discussed below), the therapist can expect him to be diligent about keeping appointments, paying for services, and carrying out behavioral plans, if such are a part of the treatment. The young woman with mental rear- diction will require treatment interventions that are well suited to her intellectual abilities. Perhaps role-playing will help establish an understanding of how she should respond in various situations with young men. The dimension perspective does not have a specific treatment modality proper to it; it informs whatever the chosen treatment is with knowledge about the patient’s resources.

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