Sexual Functioning After Mastectomy: Life vs. Lab

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Abstract
In research on the effect of mastectomy on sexual functioning, 13 Caucasian and Oriental women, aged 34 to 57, with breast cancer and subsequent mastectomy were compared with 11 similarly aged married women to ascertain physiological and emotional reactions to erotic audio and video materials; attitudes about self, body image and attractiveness; and perceptions of sexuality and relationships with men. Similarity existed between groups on most measures with controls only showing significant positive correlation between physiological and subjective indices of sexual arousal. Anxiety in mastectomies likely interfered with attention to bodily cues and cognitive labeling of those as sexual arousal.