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Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at increased risk of psychological distress including anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, less is known about sexual satisfaction and self-esteem as well as the relationship of these aspects of psychological function with clinical and hormonal profiles associated with PCOS. This cross-sectional study compared women with PCOS (N = 96) and healthy controls (N = 47). This study assessed sexual function (primary outcome), self-esteem, anxiety, and depression as well as evaluation of clinical, endocrine, and metabolic parameters. Overall, sexual satisfaction scores were comparable among women with and without PCOS. However, psychosexual function of women with PCOS exhibited distinguishing characteristics. The unconscious aspect of sexuality: frequency of erotic dreams, significantly correlated with free testosterone (ρ = 0.24, P = 0.03) and DHEAS (ρ = 0.31, P = 0.004) only in the PCOS group. In contrast, in women with PCOS, the frequency of masturbation did not correlate with endocrine profiles, but correlated with trait anxiety (ρ = 0.21, P = 0.049) and depression (ρ = 0.21, P = 0.05). Only one aspect of self-esteem (body appearance) was reduced in the PCOS group (P = 0.02) and was related to BMI and androgen. Women with PCOS had greater state anxiety (P = 0.02) and depression (P < 0.001); these scores correlated with BMI. However, anxiety and depression correlated with testosterone only in women without PCOS. The above findings indicate that PCOS is associated with a broad range of alterations of psychological function including psychosexual aspects; these alterations are in complex relationship with BMI and androgen levels.

The notion of human sexual preferences relates to relatively stable patterns of sexual response and to directing sexual behaviors toward specific arousing stimuli, which are also important for sexual satisfaction. The preferences may pertain to the properties of the object or the sexual activity itself. Diagnosing sexual preferences, in its basic form, is conducted with the use of disorder criteria defined in diagnostic classifications (ICD-10, DSM-5). However, while employing these criteria enables the categorization of the patient's sexual preferences as normal or pathological, they seem clearly insufficient for describing complex sexual interest patterns in a comprehensive manner. The goal of this article is to present a detailed dimensional model for describing sexual preferences. This proposal assumes the description of two aspects of preference: a contentual aspect, defining the individual hierarchy of sexually attractive and aversive stimuli, and a formal aspect. The latter involves four dimensions: the diversity of stimuli falling within the pattern of the patient's sexual interest, preference changeability in time, the coherence between individual components of responding to sexual stimuli, and insight into one's own preferences. The proposed model supplements the basic description of sexual preferences conducted on the basis of diagnostic criteria. The model can be a tool useful for diagnostic practice, particularly in precise characterization of various difficulties experienced by patients in relation to the properties of their sexual interests. It can also inspire new research on features of human sexual response patterns which have been neglected in previous analyses.

The concept of cognitive distortion was created by A. T. Beck and it is one of the key-concepts of cognitive psychotherapy. In the 80s of the twentieth century, researchers began to use it in studies of sexual offending, but with reference to the social learning theory rather than to the theory of cognitive psychotherapy. Subsequent authors continued the use of this term in the determinants of child molestation and defined them as products emerging from specific implicit theory of the offender, the judgements resulting from his beliefs, values and actions, dysfunctional cognitive schemas, deviant cognitive practices undertaken in the interaction of internal and external components of perpetrator's cognitive system and his social practices. The primary theoretical background in the description of the concept of cognitive distortions of child molesters was the social cognition theory, but it was complemented with the assumptions of the theory of cognitive psychotherapy, extended theory of mind and discursive psychology perspective. Particular concepts describe the cognitive distortions relating them to different classes of cognitive phenomena: products, processes and structures, and the only thing they have in common is their incompatibility of their content to the social norms. Giving this concept a normative nature leads to internal contradictions within the conceptions that concern it. Moreover, using it to explain the various processes oversimplifies the picture of this phenomenon and leads to contradictions between theories. It is, therefore, necessary to consider replacing the term cognitive distortions with alternative and more precise concepts.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and severity of emotional problems among Polish women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and seek factors which increase the risk of their occurrence., Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 82 women (aged 18-48), who were diagnosed with PCOS based on the Rotterdam criteria. During hospitalization, the patients completed a number of questionnaires, providing their sociodemographic data and information concerning the inconvenience of disease-associated symptoms. The question-naires included the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI). Data obtained during medical examinations (blood tests, transvaginal ultrasound, height and body mass measurements) were analyzed., Results: Out of 82 women, the results detected risk for depression in 42 (51.22%), mild depressive disorders in 32, moderate disorders in 8, and severe disorder in 2 patients. No statistically significant correlation between BDI or state anxiety and the level of the analyzed hormones, insulin resistance, or infertility treatment, was found. General self-esteem, trait anxi-ety, and marital status were associated with the occurrence of depression symptoms. BMI was associated with the level of state anxiety during hospitalization., Conclusions: Women with PCOS are at risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Disease-related somatic factors are not directly associated with the risk for disorder occurrence. However, severity of depression symptoms has been shown to be influenced by permanent psychological characteristics of the studied women, i.e. self-esteem, trait anxiety, and life situation (marital status). Therefore, it is recommended to include interviews about patient life situation and screening questionnaires for assessing depression into the diagnostic procedures in PCOS patients. Patients should be referred for a psychological or psychiatric consultation, if needed.