What is worse for your sex life: Starving, being depressed, or a new baby

OBJECTIVE:: To compare the current sexual functioning of women in an intimate relationship with anorexia nervosa, with major depression, and in the postpartum period. METHOD:: Complete data were available for 76 women who reported being in an intimate relationship (anorexia = 10; depression = 24; po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The International journal of eating disorders 2007-11, Vol.40 (7), p.664-667
Main Authors: Carter, Frances A, Carter, Janet D, Luty, Suzanne E, Jordan, Jennifer, McIntosh, Virginia V.W, Bartram, Andrea F, Mulder, Roger T, McKenzie, Janice M, Bulik, Cynthia M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Comparative analysis
Depression
Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology
dietary restriction
Eating behavior disorders
Eating disorders
Female
gaining weight
Humans
lactating women
maternal nutrition
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
Personal relationships
postpartum
Postpartum depression
postpartum period
Postpartum Period - psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
sexing
Sexual Behavior
Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological - psychology
sexual funcioning
sexual functioning
sexual problems
Sexuality - psychology
starvation
Women
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Summary:OBJECTIVE:: To compare the current sexual functioning of women in an intimate relationship with anorexia nervosa, with major depression, and in the postpartum period. METHOD:: Complete data were available for 76 women who reported being in an intimate relationship (anorexia = 10; depression = 24; postpartum = 42). Sexual functioning was assessed using the Social Adjustment Scale (Weissman and Bothwell, Arch Gen Psychiatry, 33, 1111-1115, 1976). RESULTS:: Significant differences were found among groups for the frequency of sex (p =.03) and problems with sex (p < .001), but not for enjoyment of sex (p = .55). In the previous 2 weeks, women with anorexia nervosa or major depression were more likely to have had sex than postpartum women, but were also more likely to have had sexual problems than postpartum women. Most women with anorexia nervosa, women with major depression, and postpartum women reported enjoying sex. CONCLUSION:: Women with anorexia nervosa and women with major depression who are in an intimate relationship report a similar profile of current sexual functioning that is different from postpartum women both in the frequency of sexual encounters and in reported problems with sex. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007.
ISSN:0276-3478
1098-108X
DOI:10.1002/eat.20394