Ejaculatory Disorders


Measuring Early Ejaculation in Same-sex and Non-partnered Sexual Activities


Patrick Jern Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Abo Akademi University


Abstract


Few studies have focused on measuring ejaculatory function in same-sex and non-partnered sexual activities. Results regarding the effects of sexual orientation on ejaculatory function have been equivocal; discrepancies between studies could be explained by variations in the definition of non-heterosexual individuals. Measures of ejaculatory function in non-partnered sexual activities differ significantly from measures during partnered sexual activities. Results from studies involving non-partnered sexual activities indicate little difference between men with and without premature ejaculation diagnoses. Ejaculatory function measures from non-partnered sexual activities compare poorly to measures from partnered sexual activities and are unlikely to provide relevant clinical information.


Keywords


Premature ejaculation, early ejaculation, ejaculatory function, sexual orientation, homosexuality, sexual activities, masturbation, ejaculation latency time, measures


Disclosure: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare. Received: 29 January 2011 Accepted: 11 March 2011 Citation: European Urological Review, 2011;6(1):46–8 Correspondence: Patrick Jern, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Abo Akademi University, FIN-20500, Åbo, Finland. E: pjern@abo.fi


While early ejaculation (EE), most often termed premature ejaculation (PE) in the literature, has enjoyed increasing attention from researchers in the last two decades, nearly all studies have focused strictly on heterosexual men and vaginal intercourse.1


EE is commonly


operationally defined via measurement of intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT),2


the time that elapses between the beginning of


vaginal intromission and ejaculation, either by retrospective self-reports or by using a stopwatch during coitus, operated by the subject himself or his partner. Indeed, the definition of PE recently proposed by the International Society of Sexual Medicine (ISSM) stipulates that an IELT of less than or around one minute is required for diagnosis.3,4 Such a definition is obviously problematic, as only men with female sexual partners are eligible for diagnosis under such circumstances. It should be noted, however, that very few studies have looked into the effects of sexual orientation on ejaculatory function and equally few have attempted to measure ejaculation latency time (ELT) in contexts other than vaginal intercourse. This article will attempt to summarise research findings relevant to the measurement of ejaculatory function in contexts other than heterosexual vaginal intercourse.


Effects of Sexual Orientation on Ejaculatory Function


It is not unreasonable to hypothesise that gay men would differ from heterosexual men in terms of measured ejaculatory function, given that there are differences between them regarding sexual behaviours. The obvious example is that gay men tend to engage in vaginal intercourse less frequently than do their heterosexual counterparts, so if vaginal intercourse is, for instance, associated with longer ELTs than other types of intercourse, gay men could conceivably report fewer EE-related problems using ELT-based ‘objective’ measures,


46


even though they would report the same amount of EE-related distress as heterosexual men. Furthermore, men with same-sex sexual experience, for example, report considerably higher numbers of sexual partners than do heterosexual men,1,5–7


So, if there is any causal relationship between any of these characteristics and ejaculatory function, this could indirectly cause differences in EE estimates between gay and heterosexual men, which could be wrongly attributed as an effect of sexual orientation. In order to approach the question of how ejaculatory function should be measured in same-sex sexual activities, a review of the literature on the effects of sexual orientation on ejaculatory function is therefore warranted.


reportedly more sexually active and engage in all partnered sexual activities except vaginal sex more often than men with no same-sex sexual experience.1


A few studies have investigated the effects of sexual orientation on ejaculatory function, with equivocal results. Laumann et al.8


in a


who studied a convenience sample of 1,397 self-identified gay men and 1,558 heterosexual men and found – on the contrary – that gay men were less likely to report EE compared with heterosexual men. In addition, they reported that heterosexual men in exclusive relationships were more likely to report EE than either gay men or heterosexual men who were not in exclusive relationships. On the other hand, Jern et al.,1


study of 1,410 US men from a demographically representative sample, reported that men with same-sex sexual experience were around twice as likely to report EE, using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria, than their strictly heterosexual counterparts. This finding has since been contradicted by Bancroft et al.,9


in a population-based study of 3,103 Finnish men, found no effects of having been involved in physical sexual © TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2011


and are also


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68