Grant: Project Grant

As childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is an important psychosocial risk factor for sexual difficulties, 56% of women and 37% of men seeking sex therapy report CSA. Yet, couple sex therapy is less effective for them and, even if they are overrepresented in this clinical population, no couple sex therapy has been adapted to better meet the needs of this neglected population. Thus, as an essential first step to develop trauma-focused couple sex therapy, we need to better understand how individuals with a CSA history and their partners experience interventions frequently used in couple sex therapy. The proposed research will use mixed methods to examine the responses and experience of individuals with a CSA history and their partners to two commonly used couple sex therapy interventions: non-genital mindful touch and talking about likes and dislikes. We will also examine whether reporting additional vulnerabilities, namely other childhood maltreatment or intersectional discrimination, is related to worse responses, whether these responses differ along gender identities and expressions, and couples' recommendations to mitigate negative responses and increase acceptability. Couples will come twice to our labs to engage in these two different interventions while being videorecorded. Their heart rate will be monitored continuously and their hormonal reactivity will be assessed. Partners will self-report their positive and negative emotions after each task and their behavioral emotional responses will be automatically coded. Some couples will also take part in individual semi-structured interviews. Results will have clinically relevant implications regarding the safety of these interventions for individuals with a CSA history and directly inform the development of trauma-focused couple interventions to treat sexual difficulties. Overall, results will promote a greater sense of safety for individuals with a CSA history and their partners seeking treatment for sexual difficulties.