Kateřina Klapilová

National Institute of Mental Health and Charles University in Prague

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of a specific diagnosis of infertile women and men on their life quality and psychosexual functioning based on internationally validated questionnaires. A total of 853 couples seeking treatment for infertility completed the gender-specific batteries comprised of the Fertility Quality of Life tool (...

Objectives The BRIDGE intervention-research project is exploring the perceptions of anonymous CSAM users on their material using, their need for specialist care, their experiences of seeking care, and also intervenes with time-limited online interventions aimed at motivating change.. This research project aims to gain the cultural perspective of pa...

Objectives Projekt BRIDGE is an international two-year research project, funded by the European Commission under the Internal Security Fund, aimed at developing and evaluating two anonymous online interventions for individuals with a sexual interest in minors searching and using CSAM in SurfaceWeb and DarkWeb that are tailored to participant's risk...

Individuals with paraphilic interests in sexual violence or children may be more likely to sexually offend if they possess offense-supportive cognitions. These cognitions may develop in response to childhood adversity. However, this idea is largely based on research in men convicted of sexual offenses and may not generalize to non-incarcerated adul...

Men and women respond differently when presented with sexual stimuli. Men's reaction is gender-specific, and women's reaction is gender-nonspecific. This might be a result of differential cognitive processing of sexual cues, namely copulatory movement (CM), which is present in almost every dynamic erotic stimulus. A novelty eye-tracking procedure w...

Introduction Asexuality is usually defined as a lack of sexual attraction to others; however, asexuals may engage in sexual activity. Previous research has shown that asexuals are less likely to engage in sexual intercourse and masturbation than allosexuals. But information about detailed aspects of sexual behavior among asexuals is still scattered...

Introduction The yearning for intimate connection with another human being lies at the core of the human experience (Mashek & Aron, 2004). Thus, the ability to form stable and close bonds serves as a crucial indicator of psychological well-being (Burman & Margolin, 1992). However, for some individuals with problematic sexual interests, which may le...

Introduction Although the definition of asexuality varies across previous studies, asexuality is usually defined as a lack of sexual attraction to others. Recent surveys of general populations report that 0.4–1 % of the population identifies as asexual. Previous studies on asexuality mainly focused on differences between asexual and allosexual indi...

So far, only a limited number of representative studies have been conducted on exposure to sexually explicit media in women. Existing research tends to focus on men, who form the majority of users of sexually explicit materials. This research aimed at the identification of categories of sexually explicit videos sought by adult women in the Czech an...

Prevention of the consumption of online child sexual exploitation material presents society with a host of new challenges and is a priority of the European Union (EU). Alongside the identification and prosecution of individuals who use child sexual exploitation material, there is a strong desire to prevent these offences before they occur. Due to t...

A body of literature shows that a considerable proportion of mental health and social work professionals who are approached by help-seeking people with paraphilic interests find themselves unprepared to respond to these individuals adequately. In the Czech Republic, the professionals’ self-perceptions about addressing various paraphilic-related the...

Objectives In 2020 the Czech primary prevention project Paraphile launched the first Czech crisis intervention phone line targeting men and women with self-identified paraphilic sexual preference and/or individuals at risk of sexual offending (and their close persons). The overall purpose was to reach the target group and encourage further on-site...

Objectives The Paraphile project is a pilot project that started in 2019 in the Czech Republic at the National Institute of Mental Health. It has established a system of early interventions for people in increased risk of sexual offending on-line and off-line, namely for individuals with paraphilic sexual preferences (and their close persons). The...

Objectives Individuals with paraphilic interests such as sexual interests in rape, masochism or violent restraint, may have difficulties establishing healthy, consensual intimate relationships. We aimed to examine whether adults with violent sexual interest have difficulties synchronizing with their partner or achieving orgasm during sexual interco...

Sexual expression is fundamental to human existence and an important topic of enquiry in its own right. Understanding sexual behavior is also essential to establish effective sexual health prevention activities (e.g., education), services and policies, and to assess the progress of policies and action plans. Questions on sexual health are rarely in...

The study investigates the effect of sexually explicit video stimuli displayed in a different modality (3D vs. 2D) and perspective (first vs. third person) on female sexual arousal, both subjective and genital, valence ratings, and sexual and general presence. We exposed 47 heterosexual female participants to four stimuli, two displayed on a flat s...

Background A recent study focusing on dietary predictors of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) found that women with higher levels of partner support, and those who had used oral contraception (OC) when they met the father, both tended to report less severe NVP compared with previous non-users or those with less supportive partners. We provide...

Objectives Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a burning social issue worldwide. Some authorities and organizations have pointed to an even greater increase in the incidence of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly because of the restrictive social measures. This study provides data about the incidence of IPV and its associated factors during the...

Objectives Sex robots may present an opportunity for a clinical management of individuals with paraphilic interests whose realisation would result in infliction of harm and/or legal consequences. Methods We explored the prevalence of desire for sex robot experience in a control group and two target groups: one with paraphilic interests in minors,...

Objectives Child sexual abuse is a burning social issue and has a major psychosocial impact on a child's future life. Global statistics show that this phenomenon is partially shifting to the cyberspace. These conditions enable offenders to have a wider reach and remain anonymous, thus increasing the risk of abuse. According to the international stu...

Objectives We tend to think about paraphilic and "normophilic" patterns of sexual arousal as being strictly separated, yet the actual degree of „separatedness“ is unknown. In our research, we attempted to model relative distances among patterns and create a probabilistic landscape of arousal. Methods We collected data on sexual arousal from 5023 C...

Objectives Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a burning social issue worldwide. Some authorities and organizations have pointed to an even greater increase in the incidence of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly because of the restrictive social measures. This study provides data about the incidence of IPV and its associated factors during the...

Objectives In 2019, the pilot research project Paraphile started due to the lack of policy and early interventions focused on people at higher risk of sexual offending in the Czech Republic. Descriptive data and case histories of clients will be presented. Methods In the first 12 months after the programme´s official launch, 49 individuals contact...

This qualitative study explores experiences of intimacy and sexuality during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic of 3357 participants from Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey. Data were collected through open-ended questions within a survey on sexuality during the pandemic. Based on a ref...

Background: A recent study focusing on dietary predictors of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) found that women with higher levels of partner support, and those who had use oral contraception (OC) when they met the father, both tended to report less severe NVP compared with previous non-users or those with less supportive partners. We provide...

Background There is limited evidence to date about changes to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) during the initial wave of COVID-19 disease. To address this gap, our team organized a multi-country, cross-sectional online survey as part of a global consortium. Methods Consortium research teams conducted online surveys in 30 countries. Sampling m...

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, different restrictive measures in terms of physical distancing and lockdowns have been introduced in most European countries, affecting all facets of social life. Currently, little is known about how partnered individuals perceive changes in their sexual life during this complex emergency. This study explored retrospective...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a burning social issue worldwide. According to global statistics, the incidence of IPV has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictive measures (e.g., reduced social contacts, the need to stay at home often with a perpetrator in the same household). This study aims to provide data about the incidence...

Background: To better understand sexual and reproductive health (SRH) during the initial COVID-19 wave, we organized a multi-country cross-sectional survey. Methods: Consortium research teams conducted online surveys in 30 countries. Primary outcomes included sexual behaviors, partner violence, and SRH service utilization, and we compared three mon...

Sex robots may present an opportunity for a clinical management of individuals with paraphilic interests whose realisation would result in infliction of harm and/or legal consequences. We explored the prevalence of desire for sex robot experience in a control group and two target groups: one with paraphilic interests in minors, the other with inter...

Depression greatly affects sexuality. Theoretical and empirical accounts evidence the existence of attention bias relating to sex-related stimuli. This attention bias might be impaired in depression, resulting in sexual problems. A sample of 13 patients with depression and 13 matched healthy controls were tested using the dot-probe and picture reco...

V České republice existuje poměrně dobře vyvinutá systémová péče o jedince s parafilní preferencí, kteří již mají za sebou historii spáchání sexuálně motivovaného trestného činu. Systematický způsob včasné intervence v naší zemi ale prozatím chybí. Projekt Parafilik se snaží tuto mezeru vyplnit nabídkou terapeuticko-poradenské intervence pro sebeid...

We assessed the relative contribution of economic, personal, and affective power bases to perceived relationship power. Based on evolutionary studies, we predicted that personality dominance and mate value should represent alternative personal power bases. Our sample was comprised of 84 Czech heterosexual couples. We measured the economic power bas...

The relationship between major depression and cognitive processes leading to sexual reactions is insufficiently exmpiricaly explored. In a present work the dual control model is explained and and its importance in the context of depressive symptomatology is discussed. Based on the analysis of the model, a systematic search of the literature was per...

The review aims to present methods recently used for assessment of pedophilic preferences in research and clinical practice. It includes description of the wide range of methods from standardized self-reported questionnaires, penile plethysmography and polygraphy, eye tracking, visual reaction time and recent progress in the field of neuroimaging....

Attention to sexual stimuli is necessary for the development of sexual response, yet while there is some evidence of attention bias in favor of sexual stimuli, the direction and magnitude of the effect remain unknown. A high-powered sample of 113 participants was tested using the dot-probe task (DPT) and picture recognition task (PRT) to measure vi...

Numerous studies show that personality traits are linked to various aspects of sexuality and sexual health. A limited number of studies investigated associations between the Big Five personality traits and individual propensity to sexual excitation and inhibition, i.e. factors explaining individual variability in sexual responsiveness. We used Sexu...

Introduction: A limited number of scientific studies explore the frequency with which various sexual positions are used in human populations and the potential of particular sexual position to facilitate female coital orgasm. Aim: The aim of this study was to provide data about the prevalence and frequency of various sexual positions, their rated...

Power imbalance in romantic couples is associated with lower relationship quality. Reasons underlying this phenomenon remain, however, unclear. In 192 Czech and Slovak long-term heterosexual couples, we measured relationship quality (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) and assessed its link with perceived relationship power, control, decision making, and pers...

The number of population-based studies focused on the prevalence of paraphilic sexual interests in men is very low and for women, the subject remains largely unexplored. The two main aims of this study are to investigate the prevalence of paraphilias and to explore sex differences in an online representative sample of Czech men and women using vari...

The function of mate retention strategies is to preserve the bond between romantic partners and to prevent desertion, which is also why such behaviours are often elicited by the presence of a potential rival. Most existing studies on mate retention are based on self‐reports, which are prone to various biases. In this study, we observed non‐verbal b...

Background: Using the dot-probe task (DPT) paradigm, previous studies have found contradictory evidence for the direction of an attention bias for sexual stimuli in a nonclinical population. This study seeks to further explore this area using the DPT and the picture recognition task (PRT). Methods: Within-subjects design was employed with a sample...

This paper provides an international perspective on the use of medications to treat problematic sexual interests, paraphilic disorders, and sexual preoccupation in men who have committed a sexual offence. Experts from Canada, the Czech Republic (CR), Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States met in Prague, CR in May 2017 to review and compa...

This paper reviews the use of psychotherapeutic approaches to treat individuals who have committed sex crimes and/or have problematic sexual interests (PSI); including types of psychotherapy used, descriptions of preventive and reintegration programmes, and highlighting specific theoretical controversies. In the second part, experts from Canada, th...

Penile plethysmography (PPG) is the primary physiologic assessment method used to gauge sexual responses in adult men. Depending on the country or jurisdiction of assessment, stimuli used to elicit arousal can include videos, still images, and audio materials. It can depict a variety consenting and non-consenting sexual scenarios as well as neutral...

This article provides a comparison and comprehensive analysis of varied approaches to the assessment of sexual interest and behaviours at different international sexual behaviour assessment labs. The assessment protocols are described for four sexual behaviour laboratories: the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre’s Sexual Behaviours Clinic in Canada;...

Objective: Vaginismus is caused by involuntary spasm of muscle surrounding the vaginal wall, a condition which makes it impossible to have a comfortable sexual intercourse. Due to its significant psychogenic part this topic is often neglected by specialists, however it is a very sensitive one for women patients. We are bringing a summary of litera...

Ženský orgasmus je komplexní psychosomatický proces. Přestože existuje celá řada definic ženského orgasmu, většina z nich se shoduje, že se skládá ze dvou komponent: z tělesné složky, kdy dochází k uvolnění neuromuskulárního napětí v těle ženy v reakci na tělesné dráždění, a z psychologické složky, kdy ženy pociťují sexuální naplnění a uspokojení....

Some instances of rape are marked by attacking stranger victims without any preparatory erotic interaction. It points to a possibility, that this type of rape is a strategy to avoid female pre-coital erotic signals. We hypothesized, that showing a female naked body and accessible genitalia in the context of her flirtatious and/or lustful behaviour...

Background: Sex flushes, the color changes in face and body accompanying high sexual arousal, has not been experimentally investigated yet. Other colorations of the skin known as blushing are usually triggered by various emotional responses. The continuity of these two phenomena is not known. The aim of our study was to test thermal and color chang...

Despite the number of theoretical explanations, the etiology of pedo/hebephilic preferences in people still calls for empirical testing. Neurodevelopmental research has shown higher proportion of left handedness in child sexual offenders. Behavioral learning models suggest that an abused child may imitate inappropriate sexual behaviors in the later...

Discussion and conclusions: Our hypotheses were partly proved valid; rapists failed to deactivate prefrontal inhibitive ("control") areas in response to strongly seductive female sexual behaviour. However, they did not show significant differences in brain activation in response to coy flirtatious behaviour, which might mean that a "block" pertains...

Aims: To test the associations of non-consensual preferences with selected demographic parameters and to assess their connection to sadism. Conclusions: Factor analysis revealed the three distinct factors underliing positive responses to the non-consent and sadism items of our questionnaire. It indicates that there are three ethiologically differen...

Ženské sexuální vzrušení je komplikovaný psychosomatický proces. Nalezení objektivních výzkumných nástrojů, které hodnotí sexuální žen a zvláště pak měření fyziologického sexuálního vzrušení, je předmětem zájmu výzkumníků z oblasti sexuologie po řadu desetiletí. V rámci tohoto textu přibližujeme přístroje nejčastěji používané ve výzkumné praxi (nás...

The description of various sexual positions during sexual intercourses has been a topic of popular books. Numerous studies described association of sexual positions with orgasmic behavioral displays in primates. In humans, diierent positions are supposed to have diverse impact on female orgasm potential. In the representative Swedish sample of wome...

There are many reasons for utilising 3D animation and virtual reality in sexuality research. Apart from providing a mean with which to (re)experience certain situations there are four main advantages: a) bespoke animated stimuli can be created and customized, which is especially important when researching paraphilia and sexual preferences, b) stimu...

Women who are regularly cycling exhibit different partner preferences than those who use hormonal contraception. Preliminary evidence appears to suggest that during pregnancy women's partner preferences also diverge from those prevalent while regularly cycling. This is consistent with the general assertion that women's mate preferences are impacted...

Background: A number of studies on the consumption of pornography have revealed large and clearly defined gender differences. Thus, men appear to be more attracted to and consume significantly more pornography than women (e.g. Hald, 2006). The study of Hald and Štulfoher (2015) found the preference of different pornography contents in women and men...