To test Kaplan's model of hypoactive sexual desire, this investigation examined the effects of anger and anxiety presented during sexual stimuli. Subjects included 24 male undergraduates, free from psychological and medical problems that interfere with sexual function. Each subject was presented with three audiotapes, containing sexual content and statements by the participants that were designed to evoke anger or anxiety or that were situationally appropriate (control condition). Penile tumescence and sexual desire were monitored continuously. Results indicated significant differences in sexual desire in each of the three conditions, with desire highest during the control condition, followed by the anxiety condition, and last, the anger condition. Tumescence was decreased during the anger condition, relative to the control and anxiety conditions, which were not significantly different from one another. These findings partially support Kaplan's model of maintaining factors in hypoactive sexual desire, by demonstrating that anger may be the primary mechanism through which sexual desire and arousal are inhibited. In this study, anxiety impaired desire but did not affect tumescence. Implications for the study of emotional influences on sexual responding are discussed, including the need for investigation of other parameters of sexual motivation.

In an attempt to detail cognitive processes during anxiety and sexual arousal, 16 heterosexual males were presented with brief erotic audiotapes simultaneous with four levels of shock threat (no shock, half tolerance, tolerance, and twice tolerance threat). Subjects were instructed to pay close attention to the audiotapes, following which a sentence recognition task was administered to assess stimulus‐focused attention. Additionally at these times, they were given a thought‐listing task and completed a series of affect ratings. Tumescence and subjective arousal were monitored continuously during the erotic stimuli. Results revealed that tolerance shock threat decreased tumescence (p<.05). In contrast, recognition memory was greatest during tolerance shock threat and diminished during twice tolerance shock threat, which also produced increased reports of emotional stales. Issues regarding the relation between cognition and sexual arousal are discussed, including implications for understanding sexual dysfunction.

Our results suggest the importance of panic symptom profiles in determining respiratory responses to a hypoxic challenge in patients with panic disorder. These findings are discussed in light of current theories of panic disorder, with particular attention to respiratory disturbances in this disorder.

National attention has been drawn to the near epidemic rates of teen-age pregnancy in this country, with greater psychological understanding of this problem cited as a research need. This paper reviews available literature on teen contraceptive compliance with particular focus on the development of self-regulation. In this first section, programs designed to enhance teens' choice and use of birth control are reviewed, with specific attention given to emerging issues and methodological concerns. In the second section, studies that examine factors predictive of contraceptive use in teen-age girls are discussed. This literature is grouped according to three conceptual systems: medical perspectives, behavioral theory, and self-regulation and self-control approaches. A summary is presented, specifying ways in which conceptually based research findings can assist in program development to address the problem of teen pregnancy.

No abstract