Brain-Behavioral Systems and Psychological Distress in Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

Background: Hypoactive sexual desire disorder is the most common sexual disorder among women, which interferes with their various functions. Activity of brain-behavioral and psychological distress systems are considered among factors affecting sexual function. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare women with hypoactive sexual desire and normal women in terms of brain-behavioral and psychological systems. Materials and Methods: In the present causal-comparative study, 37 women with hypoactive sexual desire and 37 normal women were purposively selected with maximum matching in terms of demographic variables from among eligible women attending health centers across Alborz Province in Iran. Data were collected using the following scales: behavioral inhibitory/activation scales (BIS/BAS) and depression, anxiety, stress (DASS) and were analyzed using multivariate analysis (MANOVA) in SPSS software version22. Results: The results obtained showed that mean score of women with hypoactive sexual desire was significantly lower compared with normal women in brain-behavioral activation system (drive, response to reward and pleasure seeking), but significantly higher in behavioral inhibitory system. Furthermore, women with hypoactive sexual desire obtained higher scores which indicate worse conditions than normal women in the components of psychological distress including anxiety, depression and stress. Conclusion: Women with hypoactive sexual desire have weaker behavioral inhibitory/activation systems and higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress compared to normal women. Given these results, it is recommended that greater attention be paid to factors such as brain-behavioral and psychological distress systems in prevention and treatment programs for hypoactive sexual desire.