Sexual Desire among Veterans Receiving Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Does Successful PTSD Treatment Also Yield Improvements in Sexual Desire?
- PMID: 31577915
- PMCID: PMC7083685
- DOI: 10.1080/00332747.2019.1672439
Sexual Desire among Veterans Receiving Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Does Successful PTSD Treatment Also Yield Improvements in Sexual Desire?
Abstract
Objective: People with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly report difficulties with sexual desire and other aspects of sexual functioning, but it is currently unknown if people who respond to psychotherapy for PTSD also report improvements in sexual desire. Method: One hundred and eighty-seven veterans with PTSD received prolonged exposure (PE) therapy at two outpatient PTSD specialty clinics and completed measures of PTSD symptoms (the PTSD Checklist - Military Version) and sexual desire (item 21 of the Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition) repeatedly throughout the course of treatment. Results: The results of a conditional generalized mixed ordinal regression model showed a significant interaction between weeks in treatment and PTSD treatment response in predicting change in sexual desire across the course of treatment. Specifically, PTSD treatment responders reported improvement in sexual desire over the course of treatment, whereas nonresponders did not show changes in sexual desire over time. However, the effect of PTSD treatment response was no longer significant when accounting for severity of depression at the start of treatment. Participants reporting more severe depression at the start of treatment reported less improvement in sexual desire, regardless of PTSD symptom response. Conclusions: People with PTSD who respond to PE also report improvements in sexual desire over time, indicating that response to PE is associated with improved sexual desire, but the effect is complicated by the presence of co-occurring depression symptomatology.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflicts of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Figures
![Figure 1.](https://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220408220630im_/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/7083685/bin/nihms-1540675-f0001.gif)
![Figure 2.](https://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220408220630im_/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/7083685/bin/nihms-1540675-f0002.gif)
![Figure 3.](https://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220408220630im_/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/7083685/bin/nihms-1540675-f0003.gif)
Similar articles
-
Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Sexual Difficulties: A Systematic Review of Veterans and Military Personnel.J Sex Med. 2021 Aug;18(8):1398-1426. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.05.011. Epub 2021 Jul 10. J Sex Med. 2021. PMID: 34257051 Review.
-
Sexual Problems Predict PTSD and Depression Symptom Change Among Male OEF/OIF Veterans Completing Exposure Therapy.Psychiatry. 2016 Winter;79(4):403-417. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2016.1142774. Psychiatry. 2016. PMID: 27997327 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Effectiveness of national implementation of prolonged exposure therapy in Veterans Affairs care.JAMA Psychiatry. 2013 Sep;70(9):949-55. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.36. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013. PMID: 23863892 Clinical Trial.
-
Outcomes of Prolonged Exposure therapy for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.J Trauma Stress. 2013 Aug;26(4):419-25. doi: 10.1002/jts.21830. J Trauma Stress. 2013. PMID: 23934939 Clinical Trial.
-
PTSD and Sexual Dysfunction in Men and Women.J Sex Med. 2015 May;12(5):1107-19. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12856. Epub 2015 Apr 6. J Sex Med. 2015. PMID: 25847589 Review.
Cited by 1 article
-
Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Sexual Difficulties: A Systematic Review of Veterans and Military Personnel.J Sex Med. 2021 Aug;18(8):1398-1426. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.05.011. Epub 2021 Jul 10. J Sex Med. 2021. PMID: 34257051 Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grant support
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical