Longitudinal changes in sexual desire and attraction among women who started using the Natural Cycles app. Gassen, J., Mengelkoch, S., Shanmugam, D., Pearson, J., van Lamsweerde, A., Benhar, E., & Hill, S. Hormones and Behavior, 2024. ![Longitudinal changes in sexual desire and attraction among women who started using the Natural Cycles app [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex Many women experience sexual side effects, such as decreased libido, when taking hormonal contraceptives (HCs). However, little is known about the extent to which libido recovers after discontinuing HCs, nor about the timeframe in which recovery is expected to occur. Given that HCs suppress the activities of multiple endogenous hormones that regulate both the ovulatory cycle and women's sexual function, resumption of cycles should predict libido recovery. Here, using a combination of repeated and retrospective measures, we examined changes in sexual desire and partner attraction (among partnered women) across a three-month period in a sample of Natural Cycles users (Survey 1: n = 1596; Survey 2: n = 550) who recently discontinued HCs. We also tested whether changes in these outcomes coincided with resumption of the ovulatory cycle and whether they were associated with additional factors related to HC use (e.g., duration of HC use) or relationship characteristics (e.g., relationship length). Results revealed that both sexual desire and partner attraction, on average, increased across three months after beginning to use Natural Cycles. While the prediction that changes in sexual desire would co-occur with cycle resumption was supported, there was also evidence that libido continued to increase even after cycles resumed. Together, these results offer new insights into relationships between HC discontinuation and women's sexual psychology and lay the groundwork for future research exploring the mechanisms underlying these effects.
@article{gassen_longitudinal_2024,
title = {Longitudinal changes in sexual desire and attraction among women who started using the {Natural} {Cycles} app},
volume = {162},
issn = {1095-6867},
url = {https://www.embase.com/search/results?subaction=viewrecord&id=L2031701635&from=export},
doi = {10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105546},
abstract = {Many women experience sexual side effects, such as decreased libido, when taking hormonal contraceptives (HCs). However, little is known about the extent to which libido recovers after discontinuing HCs, nor about the timeframe in which recovery is expected to occur. Given that HCs suppress the activities of multiple endogenous hormones that regulate both the ovulatory cycle and women's sexual function, resumption of cycles should predict libido recovery. Here, using a combination of repeated and retrospective measures, we examined changes in sexual desire and partner attraction (among partnered women) across a three-month period in a sample of Natural Cycles users (Survey 1: n = 1596; Survey 2: n = 550) who recently discontinued HCs. We also tested whether changes in these outcomes coincided with resumption of the ovulatory cycle and whether they were associated with additional factors related to HC use (e.g., duration of HC use) or relationship characteristics (e.g., relationship length). Results revealed that both sexual desire and partner attraction, on average, increased across three months after beginning to use Natural Cycles. While the prediction that changes in sexual desire would co-occur with cycle resumption was supported, there was also evidence that libido continued to increase even after cycles resumed. Together, these results offer new insights into relationships between HC discontinuation and women's sexual psychology and lay the groundwork for future research exploring the mechanisms underlying these effects.},
language = {English},
number = {(Gassen J., jgassen@mednet.ucla.edu; Mengelkoch S.; Hill S.E.) Texas Christian University, Department of Psychology, 2955 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, TX, United States},
journal = {Hormones and Behavior},
author = {Gassen, J. and Mengelkoch, S. and Shanmugam, D. and Pearson, J.T. and van Lamsweerde, A. and Benhar, E. and Hill, S.E.},
year = {2024},
keywords = {adult, article, birth control, controlled study, correlation analysis, female, follow up, frequency analysis, health survey, hormonal contraception, human, human relation, libido, longitudinal study, menstrual cycle, mobile health application, outcome assessment, ovulation, partner attraction, retrospective study, sexual behavior, sexual desire, sexuality, statistical analysis},
}
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Given that HCs suppress the activities of multiple endogenous hormones that regulate both the ovulatory cycle and women's sexual function, resumption of cycles should predict libido recovery. Here, using a combination of repeated and retrospective measures, we examined changes in sexual desire and partner attraction (among partnered women) across a three-month period in a sample of Natural Cycles users (Survey 1: n = 1596; Survey 2: n = 550) who recently discontinued HCs. We also tested whether changes in these outcomes coincided with resumption of the ovulatory cycle and whether they were associated with additional factors related to HC use (e.g., duration of HC use) or relationship characteristics (e.g., relationship length). Results revealed that both sexual desire and partner attraction, on average, increased across three months after beginning to use Natural Cycles. 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