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Does experiential avoidance explain the relationships between shame, PTSD symptoms, and compulsive sexual behaviour
Meagan J Brem1, Ryan C Shorey2, Scott Anderson3
1Psychology, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Objective:
Untreated compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) poses a risk to efficacious substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. Yet the ways in which CSB manifests in women with SUDs remains poorly understood. Shame and trauma exposure are well-documented correlates for women's CSB. Prior theory suggested women with shame and trauma-related symptoms may engage in CSB in an effort to escape aversive internal experiences. Thus, the present study examined experiential avoidance as a mediator of the relationship between defectiveness/shame beliefs, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and CSB in a sample of women with SUDs.
Method:
Cross-sectional, self-report data were collected from 446 women (M age = 37.40) in residential treatment for SUDs.
Results:
Experiential avoidance partially mediated the relationship between both post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and defectiveness/shame beliefs and CSB.
Conclusions:
These results extend theoretical conceptualizations of women's CSB to a treatment population. CSB intervention efforts may benefit from targeting women's avoidance of painful experiences.
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