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Does experiential avoidance explain the relationships between shame, PTSD symptoms, and compulsive sexual behaviour among women in substance use treatment?

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Untreated compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) poses a risk to efficacious substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. Yet the ways in which CSB manifests in women with SUDs remains poorly understood. Shame and trauma exposure are well-documented correlates for women's CSB. Prior theory suggested women with shame and trauma-related symptoms may engage in CSB in an effort to escape aversive internal experiences. Thus, the present study examined experiential avoidance as a mediator of the relationship between defectiveness/shame beliefs, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and CSB in a sample of women with SUDs. METHOD: Cross-sectional, self-report data were collected from 446 women (M age = 37.40) in residential treatment for SUDs. RESULTS: Experiential avoidance partially mediated the relationship between both post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and defectiveness/shame beliefs and CSB. CONCLUSIONS: These results extend theoretical conceptualizations of women's CSB to a treatment population. CSB intervention efforts may benefit from targeting women's avoidance of painful experiences.

Source: Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy

DOI: 10.1002/cpp.2300

Authors: Meagan J. Brem, Ryan C. Shorey, Scott Anderson, Gregory L. Stuart

Institutions: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Ohio University

Language: English

Topic: Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism