Cynthia Graham

Indiana University Bloomington | IUB

Background: The initial response to COVID-19 in the UK involved a rapid contraction of face-to-face sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and widespread use of remote workarounds. This study sought to illuminate young people’s experiences of accessing and using condoms and contraception in the early months of the pandemic. Methods: We analy...

Objective: Dual use of male condoms and female contraceptives is widely advocated for unplanned pregnancy prevention, yet college students often neglect condoms. This feasibility and acceptability study assessed the efficacy of a self-guided home-based condom-promotion intervention among college students in heterosexual relationships. Participants...

Body image issues can affect all domains of sexual functioning. The aim of this study was to examine how, in a sociocultural context where physical and sexual attractiveness is equated with young and slim body ideals, appearance dissatisfaction and importance are related to sexual satisfaction in older adults in four European countries. A cross-sec...

The consistently high rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people 18-24 years old warrants novel strategies promoting condom use among large segments of this population. Ample opportunity exits to employ such strategies in university settings. This study evaluated a sex-positive, home-practice intervention designed to promote condom...

br/>Objectives: Despite evidence that menstrual bleeding is a risk factor for sexually transmissible infections, few studies have assessed the prevalence of, and reasons for, condom use during menses. The objectives of the present study were to examine: 1) the prevalence of condom use during menses; 2) if condom use during menses varies depending o...

Tourism destinations are contexts which are often characterised by unique norms for social and sexual behaviours which have implications for health and wellbeing. The purpose of this qualitative study was twofold: (1) to describe the sexual risk behaviours of young tourism workers (TWs), and (2) to explore socio-contextual factors pertaining to saf...

Background:The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that receptive partners in penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) who exercise independent decision making over condom use during menses do so to avert sexually transmissible infection (STI) transmission or acquisition. Methods: Data were collected through a partnership with Clue, the industry-l...

Background The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that receptive partners in penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) who exercise independent decision making over condom use during menses do so to avert sexually transmissible infection (STI) transmission or acquisition. Methods: Data were collected through a partnership with Clue, the industry...

br/>Young Black men (YBM) experience disparities in both HIV incidence and incidence of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs); thus, developing efficacious behavioral interventions is an especially critical goal. One potential avenue for intervention involves improving sexual health communications among YBM and their partners, before sex...

Objective: To conduct a pilot test of a brief, self-guided, home-based program designed to improve male condom use attitudes and behaviors among young women. Participants: Women aged 18–24 years from a large Midwestern University reporting having had penile-vaginal sex with two or more partners in the past 3 months. Sixty-seven enrolled; 91.0% comp...

Objectives To investigate factors associated with reporting lacking interest in sex and how these vary by gender. Setting British general population. Design Complex survey analyses of data collected for a cross-sectional probability sample survey, undertaken 2010–2012, specifically logistic regression to calculate age-adjusted OR (AOR) to identif...

The objective of this study was to investigate women's willingness to experiment with new condoms and lubricants, in order to inform condom promotion in a city with high rates of poverty and HIV. One hundred and seventy-three women (85.9% Black) sexually transmitted infection clinic attendees in Jackson, Mississippi, United States completed a quest...

Research suggests the relationship between pleasure and condom use during penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) is associated with relationship status. This online study examined pleasure ratings and condom use at last PVI, stratifying by partner type, among a national sample of Canadian university students. Participants were 715 undergraduates (60.7% w...

Oral sex among men who have sex with men is a common mode of STI transmission. This study identified the prevalence and antecedents of condom-protected oral sex among a sample of 526 young Black MSM having oral sex in the past 90 days. Men engaging in condomless anal receptive sex were less likely to report always using condoms for oral sex (P = .0...

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of painful sex among women in Britain, and to explore associated sexual, relationship and health factors that should be considered in assessment. Design: Multi-stage, clustered and stratified population probability sample survey, using computer-assisted self-interview. Sample frame was the British Postcode A...

Tourism destinations provide unique social contexts which foster sexual risk-taking. Banff, Alberta, Canada is one such destination with high rates of STI and risk-taking, particularly among tourism workers (TWs).Twenty-five TWs (14 women and 11 men) completed a single session intervention designed to promote the consistent and correct use of condo...

Background: Reliable and valid scale measures of barriers to condom use are not available for young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Condom Barriers Scales for application with YBMSM. Methods: A clinic-based sample of 600 YBMSM completed a computer-assisted self-interview. The primary measure...

Aim: The aim of the current paper was to provide an overview of literature on sexual function and sexual difficulties in older adults. Method: We conducted a narrative review of papers published in English between January 2005 and July 2015 based on an extensive search in PsycINFO. Results: The review showed that while common biological changes may...

Aim: the aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the literature published 2005–2015 on sexual satisfaction and body image in older adults. Method: A narrative literature search using the PsycINFO database was conducted. Results: Although women in general seem less satisfied with their bodies than men, particularly in sexual contexts, older wo...

Purpose: Concern about young people's sexuality is focused on the need to prevent harmful outcomes such as sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy. Although the benefit of a broader perspective is recognized, data on other aspects of sexuality, particularly sexual function, are scant. We sought to address this gap by measuring the...

Background/introduction Sexual function is largely absent from the policy discourse on young people’s sexual health. The omission is troubling, given the link between low sexual function and indicators of risk (including higher partner numbers, paying for sex, non-consensual sex and STI diagnosis). An absence of data permits this silence. Aim(s)/o...

Few empirical studies have explored men’s experiences of sexual desire, particularly in the context of long-term relationships. The objective of the current study was to investigate the factors that elicit and inhibit men’s sexual desire. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 men between the ages of 30 and 65 (average age 42.83 years) cu...

Objective: The aim of this study was to construct and test measures of psychosocial mediators that could be used in intervention studies seeking to promote safer sex behavior among young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM). Methods: A total of 400 YBMSM, ages 18 to 29 years, were recruited from a clinic for sexually transmitted infection in...

Establishing the clinical significance of symptoms of sexual dysfunction is challenging. To address this, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced two new morbidity criteria (duration and symptom severity) to the existing criteria of distress. This study sought to establish the impact of thes...

OBJECTIVES: To describe self-reported frequencies of selected condom use errors and problems among young (age, 15-29 years) black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) and to compare the observed prevalence of these errors/problems by HIV serostatus. METHODS: Between September 2012 October 2014, electronic interview data were collected from 369 YBMSM...

The Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women (SESII-W) assesses propensities for sexual excitation (SE) and inhibition (SI). Previous research utilizing the SESII-W included samples comprised exclusively or almost entirely of heterosexual women. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SESII-W and a...

This study investigated whether intact young Black MSM differed from their circumcised counterparts regarding condom use behaviors and perceptions and HIV/Chlamydia/gonorrhea. Young Black MSM completed a self-interview, including a pictorial item assessing circumcision status and measures of condom use. Twenty-seven percent of 388 participants repo...

condom-associated erection problems (CAEP) are an underestimated factor related to inconsistent or incomplete male condom use. The underlying mechanisms of CAEP are not understood, and whether men who report these difficulties are also likely to experience erectile problems in situations when condoms are not used has not been studied. Aim: the aim...

No abstract is available for this article.

Unlabelled: Background Ample evidence shows that partner sexual communication is related to condom use. Although communication about safer sex may often occur when sexual arousal is high, no studies have examined arousability, one's propensity for sexual arousal and partner sexual communication. The purpose of this study was to examine association...

Objective To determine whether any of four condom use errors/problems occurred more frequently when condom application was ‘rushed’ among a clinic-based sample from three US states. Methods A convenience sample (n=512) completed daily electronic assessments including questions about condom use being rushed and also assessed condom breakage, slippag...

Objectives: Women delay gynecological care for various reasons, including practical difficulties and self-consciousness about having health professionals view their genitals. Methods: Experiences of and intentions to have pelvic examinations, attitudes toward female genitals, and genital self-image were investigated in young Asian and non-Asian wom...

Purpose: To determine, among a sample of young black male (YBM), whether female application of male condoms for penile-vaginal intercourse would be associated with higher or lower rates of breakage or slippage. A secondary aim was to investigate if higher rates of breakage or slippage were associated with increased odds of acquiring chlamydia and/...

Unlabelled: Objective To compare condom use motives and behaviours in the context of penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) with new versus established sexual partners, using daily event-level data among a clinic-recruited sample. Methods: Participants (ages 15-65 years old) were recruited from five sexually transmissible infection (STI) clinics in th...

Objectives: To identify factors involved in women's decisions to choose particular contraceptive methods and more specifically, incentives and disincentives to use three long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods: injectables, implants, and intrauterine devices/systems (IUDs/IUSs). Methods: A total of 502 women aged 18 to 30 completed a...

Objective: To determine the event-level associations between perceived risk of sexually transmitted disease (STD) acquisition/transmission and condom use during penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) among STD clinic attendees. Method: A convenience sample (N = 622) completed daily electronic assessments. Two questions were proxies of perceived risk:...

Objective The primary aim of this study was to assess self-reported frequencies of selected condom use errors and problems, using a retrospective recall period of 2 months, among young Black men attending sexually transmitted infection clinics. A secondary objective was to determine whether more errors/problems occurred among men reporting sex with...

Unlabelled: Objective To assess the relationship between the frequency of being drunk and high during sex, and condom use errors and problems (CUEP) among a sample of high-risk young Black males recruited from the United States. Methods: Data were collected in clinics treating sexually transmissible infections in three cities in the southern Uni...

Objective: This pilot study tested the efficacy of a brief, novel, theory-driven, self-guided, home-based intervention designed to promote condom use among young men who have sex with men (YMSM). Participants: Thirty YMSM were recruited from a large public US midwestern university during spring of 2012. Methods: The intervention was tested usi...

With the publication of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), there is now an opportunity for wide public reactions to the sexual dysfunctions diagnoses. In their commentary, Balon and Clayton (2014) claimed that the creation of the new DSM-5 diagnosis of Femal...

Young adult Canadians of university age are highly sexually active compared to other age groups and are at relatively high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI). It is therefore important to comprehensively assess condom use in this age group. In this study, the prevalence and individual predictors of condom use at last penile vaginal inte...

Background: Half of the new HIV infections in the U.S. are among men who have sex with men (MSM) between the ages of 13 and 24 years.[1] College-aged MSM are more likely than older MSM and men who only have sex with women to be infected with HIV. Therefore, there is a need to explore ways of increasing condom use in this population. The Kinsey Inst...

Women are often reported to have a low coherence (often referred to as "discordance" in sexuality literature) between their genital response and self-reported sexual arousal. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differing instructions for rating sexual arousal would increase the coherence between genital response and self-reported aro...

In this study, we explored sexual compulsivity in a non-clinical, non-student, convenience sample of 1,301 heterosexual, married adults (240 women, 1,061 men). To situate our sample within the body of research on sexual compulsivity, we compared current participants’ scores on the Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS) with those reported in other studies...

This study examined the impact of sexual excitation (arousability) on sexual risk-taking behaviours in a community sample of African-American adolescent women. A sample of 701 African-American adolescent women completed measures examining their propensity for sexual arousal, impulsivity and sexual behaviour. Compared with women with a lower propens...

Study question: What are women's experiences with tailored use of combined oral contraceptive pills (COCPs)? Summary answer: Some women reported very positive experiences with tailored use of COCPs, others did not like the unpredictability about when they would bleed and some women reported increased anxiety about possible pregnancy. What is kn...

We sought to elucidate the associations of 13 items assessing negative perceptions about condom use with gender, age and race in a sample of clinic attendees. Patients from four clinics, in three US cities, were recruited (N = 928). Data were collected using audio-computer-assisted self-interviewing. The primary measure was a 13-item adapted versio...

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences and other demographic correlates of condom fit and feel problems among a diverse sample of adult condom users and to examine men's and women's perceptions and experiences with condom fit and feel problems. Participants were recruited from an electronic mailing list. The analytic sample...

Background: This study prospectively assessed and compared the incidence of condom use errors/problems among clinic patients testing positive for one or more of 3 sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and those testing negative. The study also identified event-level condom use errors associated with condom breakage and slippage during sex. Methods...

The purpose of this study was to understand how men and women define sexual desire and sexual arousal and how they distinguish between the two. The authors conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with individuals in South East England, using a purposive sampling strategy to maximize the variation in experience of sexual function across the group. T...

Significantly more research attention has been devoted to the consistency of condom use, with far fewer studies investigating condom use errors and problems. The purpose of this review was to present the frequency of various condom use errors and problems reported worldwide. A systematic literature search was conducted for peer-reviewed articles, p...

This commentary highlights some recent trends in sex research that have particular relevance for research on condom use, including studies investigating the meaning of sexual arousal, desire and pleasure; a focus on couple-level investigations; and the relevance of individual differences and personality characteristics to sexual risk-taking. Althou...

Background: Current HIV prevention programs are often expensive to implement and require significant commitment on the part of participants and staff. These factors limit widespread implementation. Thus, there is an increasingly recognized need to develop and test brief interventions designed to promote safer sex. Methods: This study tested the pot...

During the 20th century there were clear indications that the socio-cultural suppression of women's sexuality had lessened, revealing a marked variability of women's sexual expression. In this article we review the recent literature to explore explanations for this variability. It is clear that we know little about the nature of sexual desire, and...

This review examines the empirical evidence on the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) in men. The main theoretical frameworks used in this area are outlined, and methodological issues are discussed. Studies examining posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, depression, and suicidal ideation in men who have experienced IPV are reviewed. The limi...

Condom use errors and problems were compared for anal and vaginal intercourse among a convenience sample of heterosexual men aged 18-66 years (n = 757). Men completed an online questionnaire for the last male condom use event for penile-anal (10.4%) or penile-vaginal (89.6%) intercourse. The prevalence of condom use errors and problems was similar...

The central assumption of the dual control model (Bancroft & Janssen, 2000) is that sexual arousal and response result from a balance between inhibitory and excitatory mechanisms of the central nervous system. The Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES; Janssen, Vorst, Finn & Bancroft, 2002) consist of 45 items and feature one Sexual E...

Understanding the signification of the word 'sex' has implications for both medical research and clinical practice. Little is known about how people of varying ages define sex and how situational qualifiers influence definitions across age groups. To our knowledge, this is the first study of a representative sample to assess attitudes about which s...

One potentially important antecedent of experiencing problems with condom use during penile-vaginal sex is the amount of time that men (and perhaps women) allow for condom application. To examine whether men reporting that ample time was available to apply a male condom (the last time a condom was used for penile-vaginal sex) were also less likely...

The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the likely mechanisms underlying regular condom use. In 2009, 1145 sexually active individuals aged 18-65 years were surveyed online, after being recruited via an e-mail message circulated at a large Croatian university and posted on various social networking websites. Participants' mea...

To identify associations between men's self-reports of ill-fitting condoms and selected condom use problems, using an event-specific analysis. A convenience sample of men was recruited via advertisements in newspapers (two urban and one small town) and a blog on the website of a condom sales company. Men completed a questionnaire posted on the webs...

The purpose of this study was to identify associations between incomplete condom use (not using condoms from start to finish of sex) and sexual arousal variables. A convenience sample of heterosexual men (n = 761) completed a web-based questionnaire. Men who scored higher on sexual arousability were more likely to put a condom on after sex had begu...

The purpose of the current investigation was to develop a scale that would assess propensity for sexual arousal in response to a broad range of stimuli and sexual situations in both men and women. In Study 1, data from a nonclinical sample of 481 male and female students (graduate and undergraduate) were submitted to exploratory and confirmatory fa...

We tested the hypothesis that phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) use would be associated with increased likelihood of condom breakage using an event-specific analysis. A convenience sample of 440 men completed an internet-based questionnaire that assessed variables pertaining to the last time they used condoms for penile-vaginal intercourse...

This article reviews and critiques the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD). An overview of how the diagnostic criteria for FSAD have evolved over previous editions of the DSM is presented and research on prevalence and etiology of FSAD is briefly reviewed. Problems with the essential feature of the DSM-IV-TR diag...

This article reviews the DSM diagnostic criteria for Female Orgasmic Disorder (FOD). Following an overview of the concept of female orgasm, research on the prevalence and associated features of FOD is briefly reviewed. Specific aspects of the DSM-IV-TR criteria for FOD are critically reviewed and key issues that should be considered for DSM-V are d...

Introduction. Some physicians prescribe phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) for men who experience condom-associated erection difficulties with a view to increasing condom use and reducing risk of sexually transmitted infections. Aim. To examine whether the prevalence of erection-related condom problems differs between men using and not usi...

The Dual Control Model proposes that sexual responses involve an interaction between sexual excitatory and sexual inhibitory processes. The model further postulates that individuals vary in their propensity for both sexual excitation and sexual inhibition, and that such variations help us to understand much of the variability in human sexuality. Th...

Sexual relationships are central to the lives of most of us. The sexual component of those relationships can go wrong in various ways. This may be secondary to other difficulties in the relationship, mental health problems, specific sexual vulnerabilities of the individual, or the impact of disease or medication on sexual response. This chapter wil...

Currently in clinical trials, vaginal microbicides are proposed as a female-initiated method of sexually transmitted infection prevention. Much of microbicide acceptability research has been conducted outside of the United States and frequently without consideration of the social interaction between sex partners, ignoring the complex gender and pow...

Despite the recent increase in the number of HIV infections in Central and Eastern Europe, patterns of sexual behavior have not been extensively researched, particularly among young people. The aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of HIV/AIDS-related vulnerability and sexual risk-taking among young adults in Croatia. D...