Sexes

Background: This study focused on a community located in Sumbe, in the Kwanza Sul province of Angola. The community’s limited resources significantly affect the healthcare of its residents. Local beliefs and traditions exacerbate this issue. Considering this scenario and a preliminary diagnosis by the research team, the Seigungo project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training programme with different health-related modules. The module addressed in this study focused on sexual and reproductive health. Methods: This exploratory, quantitative, observational before-and-after study employed a descriptive-correlational analysis with a sample of 30 participants (n = 30) who finished the training programme. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM^® SPSS^® Statistics, version 29.0. Results: The sexual and reproductive health literacy module of the implemented training programme proved effective. Considering the results before the training, 53.3% of the health promoters presented inadequate literacy levels, and after the training this number decreased to only 3.3%. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that education and community engagement may significantly improve the levels of literacy in sexual and reproductive health, which may result in better health decisions and outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate aspects of sexual response in cisgender women by querying what participants deem to be important physiological and subjective components of sexual arousal. It was also explored whether education about the role of genital blood flow influenced participant responses. Methods: Standard sexuality-based questionnaires were administered assessing function, desire, flexibility, satisfaction, and history, prior to administering a short semi-structured interview. Experiences of sexual arousal were explored in the interview in an open-ended fashion. A brief educational video condition was shared with half of the participants at random. We explored whether being presented additional information about genital function changed the way women describe their physiological response. Those in the control group completed the interview questions once. Those in the educational condition group completed the interview, watched the brief educational video and then repeated the interview questions. Following the interview, all participants completed a brief follow-up questionnaire assessing preferred arousal terminology. Results: The sample size included 30 cisgender women with a mean age of 21.10 (4.38), with 70% in a committed relationship. Additionally, there were no group difference found with those who reported a history of sexual trauma/abuse vs. no trauma/abuse in regard to sexual function, satisfaction, distress and flexibility. The physical arousal sensations described most often in the interview included lubrication (n = 27), blood flow (n = 23), and pulsating (n = 9), whereas, in the ranked term analysis, the three most highly ranked genital sensations were wetness, throbbing and tingling. For non-genital sensations, those most often reported in the interviews included nipples/breast changes (n = 17), skin sensitivity (n = 13), and changes in body temperature (n = 12), whereas them most highly ranked non-genital sensations were heart rate increase, hardness of nipples/breast changes, and skin sensitivity. There were no group differences in the reporting of full-body or genital sensations and the frequency of use of terminology related to blood flow. The two most important themes emerging from the qualitative analysis included the distinct themes of subjective and physiological arousal. The majority of participants placed an emphasis on subjective arousal, deeming it the most important part of their sexual response, with physiological arousal largely deemed important only when subjective arousal was also present. Conclusions: The same themes were present in both groups, indicating that the brief educational video was unlikely to have influenced the way women described their physiological arousal. Participants in both groups placed a dominant emphasis on sensations related to genital blood flow and the importance of subjective arousal.

This perspective advances a psychoanalytic—embodiment account of the “libido of generativity” (LoG)—future-oriented reorganization of erotic desire that links embodied arousal with caregiving, legacy, and shared projects. We define LoG along four axes (direction of investment: dyad↔triad; temporal horizon: immediacy↔future; outcome modalities: procreative, creative–sublimative, community-forming; affective regulation: shame/guilt↔pride/gratitude). Integrating interoception, body ownership/agency, and self-compassion with reproductive mentalizing, we specify three proximal levers—embodiment, affect regulation, and representation—through which sexual mindfulness can recalibrate bodily salience, blunt shame-based self-objectification, and expand triadic representations (self–partner–child/symbolic offspring). We then translate these mechanisms into a brief, practice-ready relationship guidance (RG) curriculum (6–8 sessions) combining somatic mindfulness, compassion micro-practices, reproductive-mentalizing dialogs, communication skills, and generative rituals. We articulate falsifiable propositions (e.g., mindfulness → ↑couple satisfaction via ↓body-image self-consciousness and ↑reproductive mentalizing) and a sex/gender-attentive reporting plan (SAGER). Primary outcomes include sexual functioning/satisfaction and couple satisfaction/communication; secondary mechanistic endpoints index interoceptive accuracy/awareness (including heartbeat-evoked potentials), self-compassion, and reproductive mentalizing. By aligning contemplative practices with couple-skills training and equity-focused implementation, the LoG framework offers a testable bridge from psychoanalytic theory and embodiment science to measurable improvements in sexual health and couple well-being.