Sexual adjustment of male alcoholics

Abstract

This study set out to describe the sexual attitudes and behaviour of 50 hospitalized alcoholic men by comparing them with a sample of the general population, matched in age and social class. This control sample was identified by random selection from a company register, and subjects were recruited into the study with the assistance of a trade union. All subjects completed the same assessment by semi-structured interview and the Eysenck Inventory of Attitudes to Sex. A method of scoring this questionnarie was derived, and comparison between samples showed the alcoholics differed from the controls only in describing less sexual satisfaction and not in other sexual attitudes. This difference probably arose from their greater interest in sex, loss of erectile potency and lack of a sexual partner.