Avatar-based Therapy for Female Orgasmic Disorder

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Status: Completed

Conditions: Female Orgasmic Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Avatar-based intervention; Other: Individual informative talks

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06187246

UniversidadRJC 2005202114121

Details and patient eligibility

About

A randomized controlled trial was conducted for testing the efficacy of a novel avatar-based intervention (IG), that was compared with a control group (CG) for women with female orgasmic disorder (FOD). Participants were 31 women who were randomly assigned to the intervention or the control conditions. Intervention was based on the cognitive behavioral therapy approach (treatment with the most empirical evidence) and previous literature about FOD. It consisted of 12 weekly online individual sessions and aimed at improving the FOD diagnosis, sexual variables, and variables that are known to affect orgasm consecution. Control group was based on minimum therapeutic contact. Changes over time in the assessed variables were analyzed using linear mixed models, considering treatment group, measurement time point, and group-by-time interactions as fixed effects. Effect sizes were computed (Cohen's d; number needed to treat - NNT; reliable change index - RCI).

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Present the characteristics to diagnose female orgasm disorder after a clinic assessment (considering natural characteristics of the women's sexual response cycle (Conn & Hodges, 2022) based on the DSM-5 criteria.
• Provide a medical check to prove the absence of physical factors that may be the cause of the orgasm dysfunction, as this is the first part to diagnose FOD.
• Be at least 18 years old (adult).
• Have access to a computer with the characteristics to run Second Life and internet connection.

Exclusion criteria

• Present a diagnosis of a physical condition that may be the cause of the orgasm dysfunction (e.g., genital lesions, systemic and hormonal factors, vulvovaginal atrophy).
• Presence of other psychological pathology (e.g., depression, trauma) that may be the cause of the orgasm dysfunction.
• Have alcohol dependence (i.e., evaluated during the clinical assessment, according to the diagnostic criteria from the DSM-5, to determine if the individual meets the criteria for an alcohol use disorder diagnosis).
• Drug use, including medication that is known to cause sexual difficulties (e.g., selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), that are a particularly common drug cause of sexual dysfunction.
• Have participated in a previous psychological intervention in the last year.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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31 participants in 2 patient groups

Avatar-based Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

Treatment was based on the CBT approach and previous literature about FOD. It consisted of 12 weekly online individual sessions, which were administered once a week (total duration = 3 months) and lasted about 60 minutes each.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Avatar-based intervention

Minimal support control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

It consisted in individual informative talks, during which they were provided with information about female orgasm (e.g., what is an orgasm, neuronal orgasm, factors that may influence consecution, sexual response), masturbatory techniques (e.g., key elements to achieve pleasure, anatomy of the female genitalia, pleasure areas) and techniques to focus attention on one's body (i.e., an important factor to pleasure). Participants received three individual sessions once a month, and had a duration of one hour.

Treatment:

Other: Individual informative talks