Wayne M. Sotile

Young at Heart: Understanding the Unique Psychosocial Adjustment of Young Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Recipients

SEARS, S.F. JR., et al.: Young at Heart: Understanding the Unique Psychosocial Adjustment of Young Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Recipients. This article reviews the data related to psychosocial adjustment of young ICD recipients, postulates theories to explain potential adjustment difficulties to ICD therapy experienced by younger recipients, and suggests clinical management techniques for addressing the unique psychosocial concerns of young ICD recipients. Studies of young ICD recipients suggest that a wide range of psychosocial adjustment issues are prominent in the post‐ICD implantation period and that the issues may be different from older ICD recipients. The disability‐stress‐coping model and the transactional‐stress‐coping model are postulated as explanations for the unique adjustment concerns of children and adolescents with ICDs. Social comparison theory is also applied to the concerns of young adults with ICDs such that they often lack same age peers to compare experiences with cardiac difficulties. Brief, clinic‐based interventions by health care providers, like a screening and referral heuristic and an “ICD Buddy” system, are suggested to increase effective coping and decrease social isolation for young ICD recipients.

A sexual-enhancement workshop: Beyond group systematic desensitization for women's sexual anxiety

This study investigated whether six women who previously had received 15 sessions of group systematic desensitization (SD) for their sexual anxiety would report additional treatment gains from participation in a sexual-enhancement workshop with their partners. After group SD six couples participated in six, 1 1/2 hour weekly group sessions. The women reported a significant increase in marital adjustment and a significant decrease in sexual anxiety. A significant decrease was found in the womens sexual nonresponsiveness as perceived by their partners. Future studies should (1) contrast the effects of group SD with women alone versus couple group treatment, (2) determine which treatment components are most influential for defined subject types, and (3) obtain data on mens sexual functioning.

Definitions and Classifications of Psychogenic Female Sexual Dysfunctions

AbstractThe literature on the definitions and the classifications of psychogenic female sexual dysfunctions is reviewed. No single definition to date has been versatile enough to adequately represent the many different forms in which female sexual dysfunctioning may be manifested. Various classificatory schemes have called attention to five distinct forms of female sexual dysfunctioning: (a) sexual anesthesia; (b) general sexual dysfunclion; (c) orgasmic dysfunction; (d) Vaginismus; and (e) dyspareunia. Specific forms of these disorders are isolated, several methods of describing possible variations are proposed, and a classification framework which incorporates each of these conditions is suggested.