Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:385-390
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Distinction between male and female invested partners in sexual disorders
LR Derogatis, JK Meyer and BW Gallant
Using the SCL-90, a self-administered symptom inventory, the authors
evaluated 48 sexually asymptomatic male and female partners (invested
partners) of sexually dysfunctional men and women. They found that the male
invested partners showed significantly more psychological symptoms than the
female invested partners but about the same symptom distress levels as
sexually dysfunctional men. The authors hypothesize that the reason for
this gender-specific difference in distress levels of invested partners is
society's definition of the male's role as the responsibe partner regarding
satisfaction in sexual relationships.
