Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and supportive sex education both improved sexual response and reduced distress in women with low sexual desire and arousal, but MBCT was generally more effective. MBCT increased the alignment between psychological and physiological aspects of sexual response, known as sexual concordance, more than the education program. Gains in sexual concordance predicted reductions in sexual distress over the course of treatment. The study involved 148 cisgender women who were randomly assigned to eight weekly group sessions of either MBCT or supportive sex education, with assessments before and after treatment and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups.
A mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) group treatment and a sex education comparison group treatment both reduced perceived stress in 148 women diagnosed with sexual interest/arousal disorder, with MBCT producing significantly greater reductions. The cortisol slope, indicating stress system regulation, steepened from pre-treatment to six-month follow-up in both groups, with no difference between them. Exploratory analyses showed that reduced perceived stress predicted increased sexual desire and decreased sex-related distress only after MBCT. The findings suggest that group mindfulness for women with low desire improves both self-reported and physiological stress, and that improvements in self-reported stress partly account for improvements in sexual desire and distress.