The comparison of temperamental and characterological traits of patients with sexual dysfunctions with and without comorbid anxiety disorders: comorbidity is related with maladaptive temperament

The study aims at testing the hypothesis that biological, temperamental features are divergent in groups consisting of patients with sexual dysfunctions only and sexual dysfunctions comorbid with anxiety disorders, while characterological differences are not significant. 103 patients (38 male and 65 female; age 20 to 58; M = 30.42; SD = 7.06) undergoing group psychotherapy due to anxiety disorders and 73 patients (43 female and 30 male; age 20 to 57; M = 30.16; SD = 6.85) from an outpatient sexology clinic participated in the study. The structured international neuropsychiatric interview (M.I.N.I.) was used for a psychiatric diagnosis. All participants filled in a questionnaire for screening symptoms of sexual dysfunctions and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The group with sexual dysfunctions and comorbid anxiety disorders had significantly lower results on ‘novelty seeking’ and ‘persistence’ and higher results on ‘harm avoidance’ and ‘reward dependence’ temperament scales. On character dimentions, the group with comorbid sexual dysfunctions and anxiety disorders, scored significantly lower on ‘self-directedness’ scale and significantly higher on ‘cooperativenss’ scale. Persons with comorbid anxiety disorder/s and sexual dysfunction/s show more dysfunctional temperamental traits than those with dysfunction/s only and compared to the general population. This may hinder self-management and therapy. In the group with dysfunction/s only, lower cooperativeness may play a role in symptom formation. Findings confirm the usefulness of Cloninger’s inventory in describing clinical groups and suggest that, in some cases, sexual dysfunction may be part of broader psychopathology rather than a separate disorder.