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PubMed1988

Toward a classification of sex and sexual behavior.

This paper presents a classification of sexual behaviors bases on Foa and Foa's resource exchange theory. They postulated six classes of resources: information, services, possessions, money, love, and status. We expanded and applied this theory to sexual behavior through three modalities: 1) Doing (information and services), which relates to sex as performance; 2) Having (possessions and money), which relates to sex as product; and 3) Being (love and status), which relates to sex as presence. Implications of this framework for sexual deviations, empirical verification, diagnostic evaluation, and therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

South African adolescents: pathways to risky sexual behavior.

This study tested a developmental model of pathways to risky sexual behavior among South African adolescents. Participants comprised 633 adolescents, 12-17 years old, recruited from households in Durban, South Africa. Data were collected using in-person interviews. Topics included adolescents' sexual behaviors, household poverty levels, vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes, parent-child relations, and deviant peers. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the pathways to risky sexual behavior among the adolescents. The goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was .93. One major pathway indicated that family poverty was associated with difficulty in the parent-child relationship. This was related to vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes and to association with deviant peers, which, in turn, were related to risky sexual behavior. Findings suggest that poverty, parent-child relations, personality and behavioral vulnerabilities, and peer influences should be among factors addressed by prevention and intervention programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors by South African adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Effects of brain testosterone implants on appetitive and consummatory components of male sexual behavior in Japanese quail.

Aromatization of testosterone (T) into an estrogen is necessary for the activation of consummatory and appetitive sexual behavior in male Japanese quail. T action within the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) is necessary and sufficient to activate consummatory behavior, and some evidence suggests that POM might be involved in the control of appetitive behavior, but other brain regions, such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), an area that contains a dense population of aromatase-immunoreactive neurons, are also likely to be involved. This study was performed to assess the effects of stereotaxic T implants targeting either the POM or the BST on the activation of both components of sexual behavior in castrated male quail. Appetitive sexual behavior was measured by an acquired social proximity response in which a male will approach a window providing visual access to a female after the window has been repeatedly paired with physical access to a female and the possibility to freely interact with her. Rhythmic cloacal sphincter movements that are produced by the male when given visual access to a female were used as another measure of appetitive sexual behavior that does not appear to depend on sexual learning. The experiments confirmed that copulation is necessary for males to develop the social proximity response that is used to measure the appetitive sexual behavior. T implants in the POM activated both components of sexual behavior, suggesting that these components cannot be completely dissociated. In contrast, T implants located within the BST did not affect either component, but because implants in the BST did not activate copulatory behavior, these results do not preclude a role for BST in the expression of a previously acquired appetitive sexual behavior.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1998

A study of sexual behavior among rural residents of China.

OBJECTIVE: Although the recent spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in China has been associated with sexual activities, little information has been available about sexual behavior in rural areas with high HIV prevalence. Studies identifying high-risk sexual behaviors are needed to formulate effective prevention programs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used to measure sexual activities using a two-stage cluster sampling method. A two-part anonymous questionnaire was used. Sensitive questions related to sexual behavior were administered using a tape recorder, earphones, and an answer sheet which did not include the text. RESULTS: In total, 1057 subjects were interviewed. Among 886 sexually active individuals, 7.8% had >1 sexual partner, 22.8% had premarital sex, 2.4% had anal intercourse, 4.1% had oral intercourse, and 2.3% had both anal and oral intercourse. Less than 2% reported past or current sexually transmitted diseases. Overall, 10.4% used condoms; only 11.2% for every sexual act. History of premarital and extramarital sex was higher in younger people. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual norms in rural China are changing rapidly and high-risk sexual behavior among young rural residents is increasing. Strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS should include education to promote delayed onset of sexual activity, safer sexual behavior, and condom use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Septal regulation of male sexual behavior in rats.

Involvement of septal nuclei in modulation of male sexual behavior in rats was investigated. Sexually active Wistar male rats were assigned to intact, sham, lateral septal nuclei lesioned (LSL), and medial septal nuclei lesioned (MSL) groups. All male rats were tested for sexual behavior in an arena in the presence of a sexually receptive female. Intromission and ejaculation latencies were increased, and mount, intromission, and ejaculation frequencies were decreased in the LSL group compared to the intact group. In contrast, mount and intromission latencies were decreased, and pursuit and mount frequencies were increased in the MSL group compared to the intact group. The results indicate that medial septal nuclei may inhibit and lateral septal nuclei may facilitate male sexual behavior in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Age and sexual behavior of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

The sexual behavior of the Arashiyama West troop, a natural semi-free-ranging troop of Japanese macaques, was studied during the 1973-1974 and 1974-1975 breeding seasons. The troop was transported intact from Japan to its current location in South Texas. There they have been free to move about in a 42.2-hectare electric fence enclosure. This report describes the relationships among age, aging, and sexual behavior. Males beginning at the age of 2.5 years were observed to series-mount estrous females in the double foot clasp mount position. Mounting in series in the double foot position is the normal pattern for Japanese macaque males. The ejaculation of semen with concomitant body movements indicative of orgasm begins at age 4.5 years at the earliest and continues until death. Males 4.5 and 5.5 years of age, sexually mature in the physiological sense, were not consistently sexually mature in the behavioral sense. The oldest male displayed traits that appear analogous to traits observed in aging human males. Females begin to experience estrus at 3.5 years of age. However, like pubescent males, pubescent females display behavioral patterns of sexual immaturity. The oldest female of the troop has remained sexually active. The attainment of sexual maturity by adulthood can be viewed as a learned process leading to efficiency and prowess, followed in old age by sexual involution.

Aging↗
PubMed1988

Neuron activity of the ventromedial hypothalamus and the medial preoptic area of the female monkey during sexual behavior.

To elucidate the neural mechanisms of the sexual behavior of the female monkey, single neuron activity of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and the medial preoptic area (MPOA) was recorded during sexual behavior with a male partner. Copulation was initiated when either the male's touch elicited passive presenting ('receptive presenting') or when the female's active presenting ('proceptive presenting') evoked mounting from the male. Proceptive presenting with no mating acts evoked activity changes in about 40% of cells in the VMH (mainly excitation) and MPOA (mainly inhibition). When the male's mating acts were manifested, 56% of VMH cells and 87% of MPOA cells showed firing changes during presenting, with the proportion of MPOA cells which showed excitation significantly increased. Progress of mating acts of the male partner (e.g. increases in the rate and/or number of thrusting), enhanced activity changes in about 40% of VMH and 70% of MPOA cells tested. The findings suggest that VMH and MPOA cells are involved in the control of sexual behavior in different ways: excitation of the VMH and inhibition of MPOA are related to execution of presenting, while excitation of MPOA is related to sexual intercourse with a male partner; and mating acts of a male partner modulate activity of both VMH and MPOA neurons of the female.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Effects of an intraventricular injection of synthetic ACTH on plasma testosterone, progesterone and LH levels and on sexual behavior in male and female rabbits.

Sexual behavior and elevation of gonadal steroids were induced in both male and female New Zealand white rabbits following injection of synthetic beta (1-24) ACTH into the lateral cerebral ventricle. In blood assays collected by cardiac puncture, testosterone, progesterone and corticosterone were all increased above both resting levels and samples were taken after a control intraventricular injection of physiological saline. Parallel increases of plasma LH were also demonstrated. The results were interpreted to indicate that intraventricular ACTH, through LH release, influences sex hormone levels and sexual behavior by 'centrally', probably within the hypothalamus.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1987

Female sexual behavior in the golden hamster following kainic acid lesions in the lateral septal area.

Patterns of female sexual behavior in the hamster are qualitatively different from that observed in the rat. Hamsters demonstrate tonic immobility and a sustained lordotic response that can last for several minutes following minimal stimulation from the male while in rats, the lordotic response is highly dependent upon continued stimulation from the male and lasts for only a few seconds following a mount or intromission. Also, the hamster requires both estrogen and progesterone priming in order to display female sexual behavior but the rat can show lordotic behavior following treatment with estrogen alone. Electrolytic lesions in the lateral septal area of female rats produce a facilitation in female sexual behavior and increase behavioral sensitivity to estrogen. However, lesions in the lateral septal area of rats produced by the neurotoxin kainic acid (KA) result in deficits in female sexual behavior following estrogen and progesterone treatment. Given these species differences in sexual behavior, we have examined the effects of KA lesions in the lateral septal area of hamsters on female sexual behavior. Adult female golden hamsters were ovariectomized and tested for female sexual behavior prior to receiving brain surgery. For all behavior tests, animals were injected SC with 60 micrograms of estradiol benzoate/kg per day for two days and 0.5 mg of progesterone three hours prior to the behavior test on day three. Behavior tests consisted of placing the test animal in a male's home cage for 10 minutes and recording the latency to the first lordosis, length of the longest single bout of lordosis and total lordosis duration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Sexual behaviors and human immunodeficiency virus infection among Thai army conscripts between 1992 and 1998.

This study examined changes in sexual behavior among Thai army conscripts from 1992 to 1998 in association with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence. The sexual behavior survey was started in 1992 during the epidemic of HIV infection in Thailand, when sexual transmission was the most common route and young men were at high risk, and it has continued yearly since 1995. The self-reported questionnaires were administered to randomly selected conscripts (N = 294 in 1992, N > 4,000 in 1995-1998), and trends in sexual behaviors were studied. The results showed that risky sexual behaviors generally decreased in relation to the decline in HIV seroprevalence, but the conscripts still engage in risky sexual behaviors. Appropriate interventions should be implemented to change these behaviors. The periodic sexual behavior surveys will be useful in evaluating program outcomes and planning for future interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Benzodiazepine receptor ligands and sexual behavior in the male rat: the role of GABAergic mechanisms.

Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide produced a dose-dependent inhibition of ambulatory activity, motor execution and sexual behavior. The benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil had no effect on these behaviors, while the inverse agonist FG 7142 inhibited sexual behavior without affecting motor functions. The GABA antagonist bicuculline was ineffective in all behavioral paradigms, while picrotoxin inhibited all behaviours. Picrotoxin blocked the motor effects of low doses of the benzodiazepines, but not those of higher doses. Neither did this drug block the effects of benzodiazepines on sexual behavior. Bicuculline was unable to block the effects of benzodiazepines on all behaviors. FG 7142, in a low dose, inhibited the effects of diazepam and chlordiazepoxide on ambulatory activity, but not their effects on motor execution or sexual behavior. The effects of the benzodiazepines and picrotoxin on sexual behavior could be a consequence of the motor impairment produced by these drugs, since the doses required to affect these two behaviors were similar. However, the fact that picrotoxin could block the motor deficiencies induced by the benzodiazepines without restoring sexual behavior suggests that these behavioral actions of the drugs can be differentiated. While some evidence was obtained suggesting a role of GABA in the motor effects of benzodiazepines, no evidence could be found for a role of GABA in their effects on sexual behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Changing patterns of adolescent sexual behavior: consequences for health and development.

Sexuality is a fundamental quality of human life, important for health, happiness, individual development, and indeed for the preservation of the human race. During the dynamic period of adolescence in which the passage from childhood to maturity takes place, sexuality takes on new dimensions; feelings become more intense, relationships become more complex, and the consequences of sexual behavior are radically altered. This not only affects the behavior of young people but also of those who interact with them, their families and peers, and those who work in the health, education, youth, social welfare, and other sectors. In the contemporary world the conditions of life for many young people have also changed, and with it patterns of sexual behavior. In general, earlier puberty, later marriage, a decline in the family leading to less control and more autonomy, and intense exposure to sexual stimuli via the mass media and travel across cultural boundaries have made pre-marital adolescent sexual activity more common. This has added to traditional problems of early marriage, newer problems of early pregnancy, childbirth, and induced abortion outside of marriage, sexually transmitted diseases, and human immunodeficiency syndrome infection leading to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. But the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), along with many others in the field, strongly suggests that given appropriate information and services, trust and equity between the sexes, young people will behave responsibly and well. In this paper some of the findings from methods developed by WHO for research, training, advocacy, and evaluation, and findings in relation to patterns and determinants of sexual and reproductive health and development will be described, and future directions suggested.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Developmental relationships between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood.

PURPOSE: To examine the developmental relationship between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood. A gender-balanced, ethnically diverse urban sample of 808 children in Seattle was surveyed at age 10 years in 1985 and followed prospectively to age 21 years in 1996. Semiparametric group-based modeling was used to determine trajectory groups of binge-drinking, cigarette smoking, marijuana use, and the use of other illicit drugs. Negative binomial regressions and logistic regressions were used to examine whether these trajectory groups predicted the number of sex partners and condom use at age 21 years. Specific forms of adolescent substance use significantly predicted risky sexual behavior at age 21 years, after other substance use and early measures of sexual behavior were controlled. Early binge-drinkers had significantly more sex partners than nonbinge-drinkers. Late onset binge-drinkers and marijuana users had significantly more sex partners and were less likely to use condoms consistently than those who did not binge drink or use marijuana. Experimenters in cigarette smoking, who did not escalate smoking, were more likely to use condoms consistently than nonsmokers. In contrast, the use of other illicit drugs in adolescence did not predict risky sexual behavior at age 21 years. The effects of adolescent substance use on risky sexual behavior at age 21 years differed for youths with developmentally different substance use trajectories in this urban sample disproportionately drawn from high crime neighborhoods. To prevent risky sexual behavior among young adults, attention should be paid to binge-drinking and marijuana use during adolescence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Kinsey revisited, Part I: Comparisons of the sexual socialization and sexual behavior of white women over 33 years.

This research compared data from two studies of women's sexual behavior--one conducted in the 1940s, the other in the 1980s. The first sample included 3952 white women, ages 18 to 36, drawn from the larger sample of women who participated in the original Kinsey study. The second comprised 122 white women, in the same age range, who had taken part in a recent study of sexual socialization and experiences among women in Los Angeles County, CA. Log-linear analyses were used to control for differences between the samples on age, education, and marital status. Comparisons were conducted in the areas of childhood family characteristics; sexual socialization and education; sexual behavior in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; contraceptive practices; and child sexual abuse. Results tended to reflect changes that have taken place in society and in patterns of sexual behavior. Differences in sexual socialization pointed to the increased role of the media and the schools and to more relaxed attitudes about nudity in the home. Shifts in sexual behavior were particularly dramatic. As compared to women in the Kinsey sample, the newer subjects began intercourse earlier, were less likely to have a fiance or husband as their first partner, reported a higher number of sexual partners, and participated in a broader range of sexual behaviors. Contraceptive practices differed considerably, especially among never-married women. Women in the new study were also more likely to report instances of child sexual abuse. Methodological and social factors contributing to the findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Preoptic aromatase modulates male sexual behavior: slow and fast mechanisms of action.

In many species, copulatory behavior and appetitive (anticipatory/motivational) aspects of male sexual behavior are activated by the action in the preoptic area of estrogens locally produced by testosterone aromatization. Estrogens bind to intracellular receptors, which then act as transcription factors to activate the behavior. Accordingly, changes in aromatase activity (AA) result from slow steroid-induced modifications of enzyme transcription. More recently, rapid nongenomic effects of estrogens have been described and evidence has accumulated indicating that AA can be modulated by rapid (minutes to hour) nongenomic mechanisms in addition to the slower transcriptional changes. Hypothalamic AA is rapidly down-regulated in conditions that enhance protein phosphorylation, in particular, increases in the intracellular calcium concentration, such as those triggered by neurotransmitter (e.g., glutamate) activity. Fast changes in brain estrogens can thus be caused by aromatase phosphorylation as a result of changes in neurotransmission. In parallel, recent studies demonstrate that the pharmacological blockade of AA by specific inhibitors rapidly (within 15-45 min) down-regulates motivational and consummatory aspects of male sexual behavior in quail while injections of estradiol can rapidly increase the expression of copulatory behavior. These data collectively support an emerging concept in neuroendocrinology, namely that estrogen, locally produced in the brain, regulates male sexual behavior via a combination of genomic and nongenomic mechanisms. Rapid and slower changes of brain AA match well with these two modes of estrogen action and provide temporal variations in the estrogen's bioavailability that can support the entire range of established effects for this steroid.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Chlordecone (Kepone) on the night of proestrus inhibits female sexual behavior in CDF-344 rats.

The effect of the estrogen-like chlorinated pesticide chlordecone (Kepone) on sexual behavior was examined in proestrous rats following treatment with 25, 50, or 75 mg/kg chlordecone. In most animals, sexual behavior, both receptivity and proceptivity, was reduced within 60 min following the higher dosage of chlordecone. Reduced sexual receptivity occurred more slowly with 50 mg/kg chlordecone (usually within 180 min) and no reduction was seen following 25 mg/kg chlordecone. The reduced sexual behavior after chlordecone treatment preceded the onset of marked chlordecone-induced tremor. A group of rats treated with 75 mg/kg chlordecone was euthanized at the time that behavioral inhibition began to develop. The content of serotonin, norepinephrine, and their principal metabolites was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography of extracts of brain tissue of these animals. In hypothalamus, increases in serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) content, and a decrease in the level of norepinephrine (NE), were detected in chlordecone-treated rats relative to matched controls which received vehicle. The content of 5-HT was also increased in preoptic area of chlordecone-treated females. The content of the catecholamine metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxy-phenylacetic acid, was unaffected by chlordecone in either part of brain. These are the first observations of the parallel effects of chlordecone on receptive and proceptive behaviors, and on neurochemistry, in female rats; the results demonstrate short-latency effects of the pesticide treatment on the CNS events that mediate female reproductive behavior. Results of previous studies had led to the suggestion that chlordecone's inhibition of sexual behaviors resulted from its interaction with the intracellular estrogen receptor. However, the rapidity of the inhibition during the period of ongoing sexual behavior makes it unlikely that the inhibition is mediated by the pesticide's action at the intracellular estrogen receptor. Because of the importance of sexual behaviors to reproductive fitness, the current results indicate that nonsteroidal, behavioral mechanisms could contribute to chlordecone's neuroreproductive toxicity.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Sensation seeking as an explanation for the association between substance use and HIV-related risky sexual behavior.

Past research has shown that recreational drug use correlates with sexual behaviors that confer high risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The present study tested the hypothesis that sensation seeking, a disposition characterized by the tendency to pursue novel, exciting, and optimal levels of arousal, accounts for a majority of the variance in associations between substance use and high-risk sexual behavior. Ninety-nine homosexually active men completed measures of sensation seeking, self-reported sexual behavior, and substance use. Path analysis and hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that sensation seeking accounts for the observed relationship between substance use and high-risk sexual behavior. We conclude that personality characteristics, often ignored in high-risk sexual episodes, predict risk behavior over and above substance use, and may be useful in tailoring HIV prevention interventions.

Adult↗