The State of Sex Research in MFT and Family Studies Literature: A Seventeen‐Year Content Analysis

Abstract

The ability to conceptualize and treat sexual problems has been widely accepted as a crucial skill to master the MFT training. However, clients' sexual relationships are often ignored by clinicians because of a lack of experience or training, or personal discomfort. In this content analysis, we review sex and sex therapy research within MFT and family studies journals since the turn of the century. Of the 13,919 articles published within the 15 journals, 137 focused on sexuality or sex therapy. The articles were divided into five themes: sexual and relational health, sexual diversity, treatment and contributors of sexual dysfunction, sex therapy practices, and sexual education and development. Implications for clinical practices, sex therapy integration, and future research are discussed.

The sexual wholeness model: An initial evaluation with two samples

“…Several of us were taught this “truism” while in graduate programs and we still hear it repeated today. While it is true that having a high quality general relationship should enhance a couple's ability to address and improve their sexuality (McNulty et al, 2016; Schoenfeld et al, 2017), we suspect this belief is how therapists and couple educators are able to justify largely ignoring the sexuality area in much of their materials and their work (Busby, Leonhardt et al, 2020; Hargons et al, 2017; Jones et al, 2019). Nevertheless, there is a significant body of research that verifies that a good sexual relationship is a central element of a good overall quality relationship (McNulty et al, 2016; Schoenfeld et al, 2017) and in this study we explored the central research question of whether the three dimensions of sexuality we include in our sexual wholeness model are in fact predictive of harmonious sexual passion, attachment, sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and life satisfaction (see Figure 2).…”

“…Although almost all would argue that sexuality is a core element of romantic couple relationships, there is a surprisingly small number of studies on couple sexuality in both general social science journals and in general clinical journals, with most of the research on the topic being published in specialty journals on sexuality (Busby, Leonhardt et al, 2020; Hargons et al, 2017; Jones et al, 2019). Even in the specialty journals, it is rare to find a study with an integrative model that simultaneously encompasses many different elements of sexuality and links them with broader dynamics in couple relationships.…”

Bibliometric Study of Family Studies Journals Using Journal Impact Factors, CiteScore and H-index

“…This study aims to compare the four bibliometric metrics of the JIF, JIF5, CS, and H-index, using representative family studies journals as a sample. Previous studies of family studies literature primarily provided reviews on the specific themes or trends in the field, such as sex and sex research (Jones, Johnson, Wenglein, & Elshershaby, 2019), stepparent-child relationship quality (Jensen & Howard, 2015), work and family (Perry-Jenkins & Gerstel, 2020), or an evaluation of a particular journal such as Journal of Family and Economic Issues (Dew, 2008). Although there were some bibliometric studies of the family studies literature, they focused on global research trends on child maltreatment (Tran et al, 2018), global research trends and performance in family therapy (Lou & Lin, 2012) or a bibliometric analysis of a single journal (Bayer, 1982).…”