Longitudinal changes in sexual desire and attraction among women who started using the Natural Cycles app.

Autor: Gassen J; Texas Christian University, Department of Psychology, 2955 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76129, United States of America; University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Medical Plaza 300, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7076, United States of America. Electronic address: jgassen@mednet.ucla.edu., Mengelkoch S; Texas Christian University, Department of Psychology, 2955 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76129, United States of America; University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Medical Plaza 300, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7076, United States of America., Shanmugam D; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America., Pearson JT; Natural Cycles Nordic AB, Sankt Eriksgatan 63 B, 112 34 Stockholm, Sweden., van Lamsweerde A; Natural Cycles Nordic AB, Sankt Eriksgatan 63 B, 112 34 Stockholm, Sweden., Benhar E; Natural Cycles Nordic AB, Sankt Eriksgatan 63 B, 112 34 Stockholm, Sweden., Hill SE; Texas Christian University, Department of Psychology, 2955 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76129, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Hormones and behavior [Horm Behav] 2024 Jun; Vol. 162, pp. 105546. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 18.
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105546
Abstrakt: Many women experience sexual side effects, such as decreased libido, when taking hormonal contraceptives (HCs). However, little is known about the extent to which libido recovers after discontinuing HCs, nor about the timeframe in which recovery is expected to occur. Given that HCs suppress the activities of multiple endogenous hormones that regulate both the ovulatory cycle and women's sexual function, resumption of cycles should predict libido recovery. Here, using a combination of repeated and retrospective measures, we examined changes in sexual desire and partner attraction (among partnered women) across a three-month period in a sample of Natural Cycles users (Survey 1: n = 1596; Survey 2: n = 550) who recently discontinued HCs. We also tested whether changes in these outcomes coincided with resumption of the ovulatory cycle and whether they were associated with additional factors related to HC use (e.g., duration of HC use) or relationship characteristics (e.g., relationship length). Results revealed that both sexual desire and partner attraction, on average, increased across three months after beginning to use Natural Cycles. While the prediction that changes in sexual desire would co-occur with cycle resumption was supported, there was also evidence that libido continued to increase even after cycles resumed. Together, these results offer new insights into relationships between HC discontinuation and women's sexual psychology and lay the groundwork for future research exploring the mechanisms underlying these effects.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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