Mindfulness, Sexual Functioning, and Subjective Sexual Well-Being

Abstract

Although there are several studies that address mindfulness, sexual functioning, and subjective sexual well-being separately, there are very few studies that explore the associations between these three constructs. Therefore, this research was developed with the objective of evaluating levels of mindfulness, sexual functioning, and sexual well-being in a Portuguese-speaking adult sample in order to compare the differences in these measures between genders (male and female) and age groups, and to determine a predictive relationship between mindfulness, sexual functioning, and subjective sexual well-being. The sample consists of 1,416 Portuguese-speaking adults, with a mean age of 38.74 years of age (SD = 13.63). Participants completed the "The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory - reduced version (IMF)", the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire-Short Form (CSFQ-14), and the "Subjective sexual well-being" questionnaire. After analyzing the levels of mindfulness, sexual performance, and subjective sexual well-being, we found that the participants had moderately high indicators for all variables. In regards to the comparison between genders, it was found that men have higher levels of mindfulness and sexual functioning than women. Regarding subjective sexual well-being, men also show higher values ​​in almost all variables. It was also found that participants between 30 and 49 years of age demonstrated, in general, higher levels of mindfulness, sexual functioning, and subjective sexual well-being. Linear regression shows that having higher levels of mindfulness is a good predictor of enjoying more sexual pleasure and experiencing orgasm, demonstrating that mindfulness seems to condition sexual experiences. This study draws attention to the importance of further examining the selected variables, in order to provide relevant information to researchers who work in this field.