Associations Between Luteal Phase, Unwanted Sexual Activity History, and Inflammation on Women's Arousal, Anxiety, and Disgust Responses to Sexual Stimuli: Results from a Pre-Registered Study.

Abstract

Objectives: To conduct a preregistered analysis of the interactions between unwanted sex history, inflammation, and luteal phase in 76 healthy women.

Methods: Participants provided saliva samples analyzed for progesterone and inflammation markers and completed subjective ratings of their sexual and physical arousal, disgust, and anxiety pre/post watching a sexual film.

Results: Observed effect sizes were very small, and inferential results were generally non-significant.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that if there are significant interactions of unwanted sex history and inflammation on ovarian cycle-related changes in women's emotional responses to sexual stimuli, these effects are modest and require large samples to reliably detect.