Measuring sexual health: preliminary development of a sexual health inventory

The sexual health model is a conceptual framework that posits 10 key components of healthy human sexuality. An initial scale was developed to measure the sexual health as conceptualized by Robinson et al. Building on that research, this article describes the exploratory factor analysis examining the underlying structure of the sexual health model as measured by the sexual health inventory. A shorter-efficient sexual health inventory is presented that might be helpful in research and clinical settings. These preliminary findings reaffirm that the sexual health inventory is measurable and has statistical validity.     

Reduced Mimicry to Virtual Reality Avatars in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mimicry involves unconsciously copying the actions of others. Increasing evidence suggests that autistic people can copy the goal of an observed action but show differences in their mimicry. We investigated mimicry in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a two-dimensional virtual reality environment. Participants played an imitation game with a socially engaged avatar and socially disengaged avatar. Despite being told only to copy the goal of the observed action, autistic participants and matched neurotypical participants mimicked the kinematics of the avatars’ movements. However, autistic participants mimicked less. Social engagement did not modulate mimicry in either group. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using virtual reality to induce mimicry and suggest mimicry differences in ASD may also occur when interacting with avatars.     

Melatonin treatment of non-epileptic myoclonus in children

Oral melatonin (MLT) has been used by our Vancouver research group in the treatment of paediatric sleep disorders since 1991; slightly over 200 children, mainly with multiple disabilities, who frequently had seizures, have been treated. Three children with markedly delayed sleep onset due to recurring myoclonus were also referred for MLT treatment: two had non-epileptic, and one had epileptic and non-epileptic myoclonus. Low doses of oral MLT (3 to 5 mg) unexpectedly abolished their myoclonus and allowed them to sleep. There were no adverse effects. It appears that certain types of myoclonus, which might be resistant to conventional anticonvulsant medications, may respond to MLT but the mechanism of action is unclear. Further research on this novel treatment is urgently needed.     

Introduction to the Special Section on Consensual Non-Monogamy

Archives of Sexual Behavior -