Characteristics of 36 subjects reporting compulsive sexual behavior

TLDR

The authors assessed 36 individuals with compulsive sexual behavior using structured interviews to characterize their sociodemographic profiles, phenomenology, and psychiatric comorbidity. The cohort exhibited high rates of psychiatric comorbidity—39% with major depression/dysthymia, 42% with phobic disorders, 64% with substance use disorders—and frequent personality disorders, while compulsive sexual behavior was diverse, ranging from paraphilic to nonparaphilic, and associated with distress or functional impairment.

Abstract

The authors describe the sociodemographic features, phenomenology, and psychiatric comorbidity of 36 subjects reporting compulsive sexual behavior.Twenty-eight men and eight women who responded to advertisements for "persons ... who have a problem with compulsive sexual behavior" completed structured and semistructured assessments, including the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R disorders (axis I) and the Structured Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders, Revised (axis II).The typical subject was a 27-year-old man who reported experiencing compulsive sexual behavior for nearly 9 years. Sexual behavior was described as excessive and poorly controlled and was associated with either subjective distress or impairment in interpersonal or occupational functioning or as overly time-consuming. Fourteen subjects (39%) reported a history of major depression or dysthymia, 15 (42%) a history of phobic disorder, and 23 (64%) a history of substance use disorder. Personality disorders were quite frequent, particularly the paranoid, histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, and passive-aggressive subtypes. The compulsive sexual behavior was quite varied and included both paraphilic (e.g., cross-dressing) and nonparaphilic (e.g., compulsive masturbation) types.Compulsive sexual behavior may be a clinically useful concept, but it describes a heterogeneous group of individuals with substantial psychiatric comorbidity and diverse behavioral problems.