Psychosexual development

Question 1

What is normal psycho-sexual development?

Answer 1

• differentiation between sexes begins in the first 3 months of foetal life
• Y chromosome in normal XY male leads to development of testes + secretion of foetal androgen
• the absence of these androgens results in normal feminization

Question 2

What is ‘sex’?

Answer 2

• defined by the gonads or potential gonads, either
  
  • phenotypically
  • or genotypically (male XY, female XX)

Question 3

What is gender identity?

Answer 3

• early awareness of belonging to one of two categories of human beings
• aka anatomical identity; defined by one’s own identification as male, female or intersex
• bossed on legal status, social interactions, public persona, personal experiences + psychological setting

Question 4

Describe the development of gender identity

Answer 4

• environment in which a baby is reared with respect to gender begins to take shape prior to birth
• sex of baby is assigned at birth (if not b4 w/ ultrasound)
• a gender bias probably exists in all newborns
• upon assignment of sex at birth, parents usually rear child as either male or female, with all associated env + social interactions
• not yet clear whether gender identity is truly inborn or even if it is changeable

Question 5

When does gender identity emerge?

Answer 5

• by 2-3 years
• at age 3, 80% of children can correctly answer the Q “are you going to be a mummy or daddy”
• parental decisions play the largest part in determining environmental influences

Question 6

What is gender identity reinforced by during childhood?

Answer 6

by gender role (preference for same sex playmates etc)

Question 7

What factors are important in determining gender identity in adolescence?

Answer 7

• inherited factors of sexuality, personality traits, peer interaction + anxieties are most important

Question 8

What is gender identity like by late adolescence/early adulthood?

Answer 8

• usually established
• usually an accompanying gender role is well defined

Question 9

What is meant by ‘gender role’?

Answer 9

• outward manifestations of personality that reflect the gender identity
• also called masculinity + femininity

Question 10

When do gender roles start?

Answer 10

• gender-types toy preferences at age 1 year
• age 2-3 years, boys are more aggressive towards peers
• observations confirmed in diff cultures, much overlap

Question 11

What is adolescence?

Answer 11

• latin - “to grow up”
• high correlation between first two components of sexual identity in children and later sexual orientation
• physical, social, psychological changes
• sexual behaviour

Question 12

Sigmund Freud proposed “libido develpoment”, with five psychosexual stages. What are they?

Answer 12

• oral (birth-1yr)
• anal (1-3yrs)
• phalic (3-6yrs)
• latency (6yrs-puberty)
• genital (puberty-death)

“old age pensioners love grapes”

Question 13

What 3 disturbances make up atypical psycho-sexual development?

Answer 13

• disturbances of gender identity
• disturbances of gender behaviour
• disturbances of sexual preference

note: atypical does not mean abnormal

Question 14

What is gender identity disorder?

Answer 14

• also known as gender dysphoria / “trans-sexual”
• occurs in both children + adults
• recent evidence has pointed to brain structure as a major determinant of gender identity
• most such children wear clothes of the opp sex, play w/ toys preferred by opp sex + have difficulty in same-sex peer interactions

Question 15

How common is gender identity disorder?

Answer 15

• rare (1 in 100,000)
• male:female = 2.5:1
• therapy - behavioural sex reassignment?
• outcome - between 66-90% are happy

Question 16

What is the difference between transexualism and transvestism?

Answer 16

• transexual: strong + persistent cross-gender identification; repeated stated desire to be of opp sex, persistent discomfort with one’s own sex or gender role
• transvestite: cross-dressing w/out any true confusion about gender identity, “gender illusionist”, cross-dressing process is itself sexually arousing, classified as a fetish

Question 17

What is hermaphroditism?

Answer 17

• people with anatomically inter-sexed conditions are, at times referred to as hermaphrodites
• in past, one sex was chosen for rearing
• increasingly, some allow the inter-sex state to remain until self-determination can be made
• ambiguous genitalia (?)

Question 18

What is micropenis?

Answer 18

• stretched penile length more than 2 SDs below normal adult mean
• linked to gender issues, body image, social fitness, sexuality, work, family adjustment + presence of psychopathology

Question 19

What are Hijaras?

Answer 19

• castrated males or male kids w/ ambiguous external genitalia
• traditionally function as male prostitutes
• many have feelings of worthlessness, shame + guilt
• in India

Question 20

What is gender orientation?

Answer 20

• sexual / gender orientation
• direction of erotic + romantic interests
• age of onset unclear
• heterosexual - homosexual

Question 21

What is heterosexual behaviour?

Answer 21

• first sexual exp of any type: about 13 years for boys + 14 years for girls
• avg age of first full sexual intercourse is around 17 yrs for both sexes
• proportion of young women exp full sexual intercourse before age of 16 yrs increased from <1% (1940s) to ~20% (1990s) w/ inc in young men over this period being from 5% -> 30%

Question 22

What is homosexuality?

Answer 22

• term first used in 1869
• attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over time + place
• ‘sexual orientation identity’ and sexual fluidity (about 2% of adults report a change of sex orientation identity after a 10yr period)

Question 23

What is the frequency of homosexuality?

Answer 23

• 2-11% of ppl have had some form of same-sex sexual contact within their lifetime
• estimates of frequency of homosexuality vary from 1.6% -> 6%, although having some homosexual feelings may be more common (perhaps 20%)

Question 24

What is the prevalence of homosexuality in females?

Answer 24

• prob occurs in about 10% of pre-adolescent girls in our society
• present in about 1-2% of adult female population

Question 25

What did Freud say about homosexuality?

Answer 25

• freud was interested in subject of homosexuality thru his career
• whilst freud distinguished between “perversion” and “inversion” (the name he gave to homosexuality), he always considered it an inhibition of normal development

Question 26

Describe the history of homosexuality being classified as a mental disorder

Answer 26

• homosexuality incl as a disorder in first edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1952)
• The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM in 1973
• The WHO ICD-9 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (1977) listed homosexuality as a mental illness
• it was removed from ICD-10, published in 1992

Question 27

What does the prenatal androgen model suggest?

Answer 27

suggests that non-typical prenatal hormone exposure is related to the development of human homosexuality

Question 28

What changes in the brain are associated with homosexuality?

Answer 28

• structural diffs in hypothalamus (interstitial nucleus of hypothalamus IANH3)
• suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of ant hypothalamus larger in homo
• thalamus volume is smaller in homo
• BNST (forebrain limbic area) larger in homo
• amygdala differences
• anterior commisure larger in gay men + hetero women
• corpus callosum larger in gay men
• grey matter difference between gay and hetero women
• cerebral cortex thinner in gay men

Question 29

What is cerebral asymmetry like in homo and hetero men/women?

Answer 29

• gay men + hetero women have symmetrical hemispheric volumes
• homo women + hetero men have asymmetrical hemispheric volumes

Question 30

What did twin studies for homosexuality suggest?

Answer 30

• initial studies suggested high levels of concordance for identical twins
• failed to allow for recruitment bias, small sample size + env influences
• other studies suggest 20% or 7% concordance rates for male identical twins
• and 24% or 5.3% for female identical twins

Question 31

What do chromosomal linkage studies show?

Answer 31

• Hamer et al (93) found gay men had more gay uncles + cousins on maternal side of family than on paternal side
• gay brothers w this pedigree were tested for X-chromosomal linkage: a higher % than expected had similar alleles in region Xq28 (“gay-gene”)
• meta-analysis of all available linkage data indicates a significant link to Xq28, but also indicates that additional genes must be present to account for full heritability of sexual orientation
• chromosome 8 may also be implicated

Question 32

What do epigenetic studies show?

Answer 32

• woman have 2 X-chromosomes, one of which is randomly switched off
• Bocklandt et al (06) reported that in mothers of gay men, # of men with extreme skewing of X-chromosome inactivation is significantly higher than in mothers without gay sons
• more mother X-chromosome skewing = likely to have gay son

Question 33

What does ‘birth order’ suggest about homosexuality?

Answer 33

• each additional older brother increased the odds of a man being gay by 33% (Blanchard + Klassen 97)
• this led to “maternal immunization hypothesis” but, by itself, such a response cannot account for freq of homosexuality

Question 34

How is female fertility linked to homosexuality?

Answer 34

• female relatives of gay men tended to have more offspring than those of heterosexual men
• and female relatives of the gay men on their mother’s side tended to have more offspring than those on the father’s side
• conclusion -> genetic material being passed down on X-chromosome which promoted fertility in the mother + homosexuality in her male offspring
• this would account for 20% of cases studied

Question 35

What is meant by pheromones in regards to homosexuality?

Answer 35

gay + straight men may respond differently to two odours believed to be involved in sexual arousal in sweat/urine

Question 36

What can we conclude about homosexuality?

Answer 36

• likely to be complex interaction of genetic, hormonal + env influences
• normal and natural variation in human sexuality
• is not a “lifestyle choice”

Question 37

What did the Nuffield Council on bioethics report in 2002?

Answer 37

“There are numerous problems with genetic and other biological research into sexual orientation which mean that any reported findings must be viewed w/ caution”

Question 38

Who may hold negative views of gays and lesbians?

Answer 38

• medical students
• health-care professionals
• mental health care professionals
  
  • 4% would attempt to change a client’s SO

Question 39

Do children show sexualised behaviour in childhood?

Answer 39

• not unusual for infants to play w their genitals in first year of life
• masturbation develops from genital play
• games (eg. playing doctor) common by age 4 years

Question 40

Describe sexualisd behaviour in chilldhood at the following ages:

• 5
• 7
• 9-11

Answer 40

• 5: some reduction in sexual activity + apparent erotic interest
• 7: relationships tend to be w same-sex peers
• children aware of adult prohibitions around sex
• 9-11: peer group activites may occur

Question 41

Describe sexualised behaviour in boys (puberty, 14, 18, 19)

Answer 41

• puberty - growth of penis + testes begins age 10-11, pubic hair by 12-13
• by age 14: 80% of boys have masturbated
• by age 18: 90-98% have masturbated
• by age 19: 79% have had sexual intercourse

Question 42

Describe sexualised behaviour in girls

Answer 42

• puberty begins at 9-14
• 8-13: breast buds
• 12.5: menarche
• masturbation less freq in girls than boys
• by age 18, about 60% of girls have had intercourse
• girls who mature early tend to be viewed negatively by peers + adults

Question 43

What can be causes of excessive masturbation in younger children?

Answer 43

• neglect
• sexual abuse