Sexual health is strictly related with general health in both genders. In presence of a sexual dysfunction, the expert in sexual medicine aims to discover the specific weight of the physical and psychological factors can cause or con-cause the sexual problem. At the same time, a sexual dysfunction can represent a marker of the future development of a Non-communicable diseases (NCDss) as cardiovascular or metabolic diseases.In the evaluation phase, the sexual health specialist must focus on these aspects, focusing especially on the risk and protective factors that could impact on both male and female sexuality.This article presents a review of researches concerning healthy and unhealthy lifestyles and their contribute in the development of sexual quality of life in a gender-dependent manner.Among the unhealthy lifestyle, obesity contributes mostly to the development of sexual dysfunctions, due to its negative impact on cardiovascular and metabolic function. Tobacco smoking, alcohol - substance abuse and chronic stress lead to the development of sexual dysfunction in a med-long term.In order to guarantee a satisfying sexual quality of life, sexual health specialists have the responsibility to guide the patient through the adoption of healthy lifestyles, such as avoiding drugs, smoke and excessive alcohol, practicing a regular physical activity, following a balanced diet and use stress-management strategies, even before proposing both pharmaco- and/or psychotherapies.

The role of ageism (i.e., discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age), in particular toward the sexuality of the elderly, remains, to date, an overlooked issue. A few studies have suggested that ageistic stereotypes can negatively affect older adults’ sexual health. No data are available, in particular, about differences among heterosexual and LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) populations. The present study aimed to investigate differences in perceived ageism and related dysfunctional beliefs in a sample of heterosexual (n = 104) and LGB (n = 103) older adults (aged 55 or older; mean age 66.5) and their impact on sexual health and satisfaction. LGB individuals reported higher rates of masturbation and sexual intercourse and an increased quality of sexual activity as compared to heterosexuals. In addition, no differences between the groups emerged as regards perceived ageism and dysfunctional beliefs toward ageing. In conclusion, LGB individuals perceived more ageism toward sexuality than their counterparts; however, heterosexuals were more likely to have dysfunctional beliefs toward sexuality in ageing. The study findings highlight the significance of examining sexual orientation to understand experiences of sexuality in ageing of the growing older population. Renewed socio-educational efforts based on these data are clearly needed.

Background. The term “incel” (involuntary celibate) refers to the members of an online subculture, mainly composed of heterosexual men. These individuals find it difficult or impossible to have a romantic and/or sexual partner, and they express extreme anger and resentment toward women, as they hold them accountable for their “inceldom.” In recent years, online and offline acts of violence have been perpetrated by incels, raising concern at social and political levels. This study aims to understand the personal, psychological, and psychopathological variables that may contribute to developing incel traits. Materials and Methods. A total of 800 Italian heterosexual cisgender men were recruited by a link to the survey forwarded on social networks. Participants have completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and a set of psychometric tests to assess incels’ personality traits, attachment patterns, paranoia, anxiety, and depression. Results. Positive correlations among incel personality traits and psychopathological symptoms and insecure attachment were found. Hierarchical regression analysis showed the significant role of paranoid thinking, insecure attachment, depression, and anxiety symptoms in the presence of incels’ personality traits. Conclusion. Therefore, the assessment of these psychopathological aspects could help clinicians, parents, and teachers to early identify young males that can be caught in the inceldom and to develop specific intervention programs to prevent violence.

Background: The investigation of sexual fantasies is a delicate issue within sex research. Most studies have focused on the content of these fantasies, rather than on use, experiences, attitudes, and sharing issues, which are fundamental aspects within sexual therapy. The main aim of the present study was to develop and validate the “Sexual Desire and Erotic Fantasies questionnaire-Part 2. Use of Erotic Fantasies (SDEF2)”. Methods: The SDEF2 was completed by 1773 Italian participants (1105 women, 645 men, and 23 other genders). Results: The final 21-item version presented a five-factor structure (fantasies frequency, fantasies normality, fantasies importance, negative emotions, and sharing and experiencing). The SDEF2 showed good psychometric properties, internal reliability, construct, and discriminant validity, appearing to be able to differentiate between sexually clinical and functional women and men (based on the FSFI and IIEF cut-off scores). Conclusions: The possibility of assessing fantasies frequency, attitudes, and emotions may be extremely useful both for research and clinical purposes. The current study seems to validate that the SDEF2 is a useful measure of assessing the different aspects related to a fantasizing activity, which was shown to be associated with sexual functioning and satisfaction.

Introduction: To evaluate the impact of voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTOP) on the psycho-sexological well-being of females before/six months after the abortion. Methods: A sample of 194 women was recruited from three obstetrics and gynaecological divisions. The women were evaluated for the variables “sexual functioning” with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), “depression” with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and “anxiety state” with the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) at time 0 (the beginning of the abortion procedure) and time 1 (six months after the abortion). Since 24 women refused to fill out the questionnaires, the final sample was composed of 170 women. Results: The women showed a slight although significant improvement in the mean FSFI score from time 0 (16.7 ± 12.9) to time 1 (20.9 ± 13.8) (p < 0.001) which paralleled with a slight decrease in the incidence of clinically significant sexual dysfunction [49% (84/170) (time 0) versus 34.1% (58/170) (time 1)], (McNemar’s test; p = 0.0241). The sub-group of younger women (18–25) showed a lesser increase in FSFI score from time 0 to time 1. In addition, both depression (p = 0.048) and anxiety (p < 0.001) significantly decreased over time. However, the female sexuality remained impaired since more than two thirds (69.5%) of women were sexually dysfunctional six months after VTOP. Discussion: Voluntary TOP may influence the sexuality of younger females differently from how it influences that of older women. Hence, the sexuality of younger female should be regularly supervised in follow-up examinations.

Among the plethora of urogynecological conditions possibly affecting women, some of them, less explored, have significant impacts on sexological and psychological health, with a mutual influence. The aim of this study was to investigate the sexological and psychological correlates of four urogynecological pathologies in a sample of women of childbearing age: overactive pelvic floor, vulvodynia, postcoital cystitis, and interstitial cystitis. Women cured of these conditions were also included, to assess the same aspects after the remission of physical symptoms. We recruited 372 women with an average age of 33.5 years through an online platform shared by a popular forum for women with urogynecological pathologies between March and May 2021. The participants filled out a socio-anamnestic questionnaire and a set of psychometric tests. Participant data were collected by use of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Female Sexual Function Index, and Orgasmometer-F, and the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) v.26 was used for data analysis. Overactive pelvic floor was reported by 66.4% of the women, vulvodynia by 55%, postcoital cystitis by 58.8%, and interstitial cystitis by 8.3%, and these conditions were often comorbid with each other, with 9.4% and 7% of women reporting having suffered psychological and sexual abuse, respectively. The presence of past abuse was correlated with overactive pelvic floor (P < .05), vulvodynia (P < .01), and major depression (P < .01). Significantly more depression occurred in women with vulvodynia than in the other subgroups (P < .05), except for women with only an overactive pelvic floor. There was no difference between the subgroups in the occurrence of alexithymia, sexual function, and orgasm (P < .05). Interestingly, the prevalence of sexual dysfunction increased in cured women. The lack of significant differences, except for depression, between the pathological subgroups suggests a similar clinical and psychological relevance of the four pathologies studied. The persistence of sexual dysfunctions in cured women may be related to a residual dysfunctional relational modality with the partner. The evaluation of both psychological and sexological variables in a group of less-explored urogynecological conditions represents a strength of this study, while a lack of a face-to-face assessment could represent a limitation. The results of the present study should promote psychosexological interventions in women with these diseases, both during the pathological state and after remission.