Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:243-249
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
Characteristics of 36 subjects reporting compulsive sexual behavior
DW Black, LL Kehrberg, DL Flumerfelt and SS Schlosser
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City 52242-1000, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors describe the sociodemographic features,
phenomenology, and psychiatric comorbidity of 36 subjects reporting
compulsive sexual behavior. METHOD: Twenty-eight men and eight women who
responded to advertisements for "persons ... who have a problem with
compulsive sexual behavior" completed structured and semistructured
assessments, including the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R
disorders (axis I) and the Structured Interview for DSM- III-R Personality
Disorders, Revised (axis II). RESULTS: The typical subject was a
27-year-old man who reported experiencing compulsive sexual behavior for
nearly 9 years. Sexual behavior was described as excessive and poorly
controlled and was associated with either subjective distress or impairment
in interpersonal or occupational functioning or as overly time-consuming.
Fourteen subjects (39%) reported a history of major depression or
dysthymia, 15 (42%) a history of phobic disorder, and 23 (64%) a history of
substance use disorder. Personality disorders were quite frequent,
particularly the paranoid, histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, and
passive-aggressive subtypes. The compulsive sexual behavior was quite
varied and included both paraphilic (e.g., cross-dressing) and
nonparaphilic (e.g., compulsive masturbation) types. CONCLUSIONS:
Compulsive sexual behavior may be a clinically useful concept, but it
describes a heterogeneous group of individuals with substantial psychiatric
comorbidity and diverse behavioral problems.
