Dear Sofia,

I can not contribute any specific empirical research of Kernberg. But as you can see above "sensation seeking" and "impulsivity" are substantive findings on all sexual risk-taking behaviors. Both are significant correlated traits to low levels of personal functioning and therefore closley connected to personality disorders. This is the reason why there is an important link between sensation seeking and aggression (impulsivity, egostructural deficits) and PD.

I have added some literature about this.

1: Castelo-Branco C, Parera N, Mendoza N, Pérez-Campos E, Lete I; the CEA group.

Alcohol and drug abuse and risky sexual behaviours in young adult women. Gynecol

Endocrinol. 2014 May 20:1-6. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 24845414.

2: Sarver DE, McCart MR, Sheidow AJ, Letourneau EJ. ADHD and risky sexual

behavior in adolescents: Conduct problems and substance use as mediators of risk.

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2014 May 12. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12249. [Epub ahead of

print] PubMed PMID: 24813803.

3: Goldenberg D, Telzer EH, Lieberman MD, Fuligni A, Galván A. Neural mechanisms

of impulse control in sexually risky adolescents. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2013

Oct;6:23-9. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2013.06.002. Epub 2013 Jun 19. PubMed PMID:

23835204; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3924962.

4: Johnson NL, Johnson DM. Factors influencing the relationship between sexual

trauma and risky sexual behavior in college students. J Interpers Violence. 2013

Jul;28(11):2315-31. doi: 10.1177/0886260512475318. Epub 2013 Feb 11. PubMed PMID:

23400885.

5: Lyerly JE, Brunner Huber LR. The role of family conflict on risky sexual

behavior in adolescents aged 15 to 21. Ann Epidemiol. 2013 Apr;23(4):233-5. doi:

10.1016/j.annepidem.2013.01.005. Epub 2013 Feb 12. PubMed PMID: 23415277.

6.1080/00224499.2011.652264. Epub 2012 Mar 28. PubMed PMID: 22456443.

Troussier T, Benghozi P, Ganem M. High-risk sexual behaviors. Endocr Dev.

2012;22:357-79. doi: 10.1159/000331653. Epub 2012 Jul 25. Review. PubMed PMID:

22846539.

7.Bandelow B, Schmahl C, Falkai P, Wedekind D. Borderline personality disorder:

a dysregulation of the endogenous opioid system? Psychol Rev. 2010

Apr;117(2):623-36. doi: 10.1037/a0018095. Review. PubMed PMID: 20438240.

8: Hoyle RH, Fejfar MC, Miller JD. Personality and sexual risk taking: a

quantitative review. J Pers. 2000 Dec;68(6):1203-31. PubMed PMID: 11130738.

9. Wilson LC, Scarpa A. The link between sensation seeking and aggression: a

meta-analytic review. Aggress Behav. 2011 Jan-Feb;37(1):81-90. doi:

10.1002/ab.20369. Review. PubMed PMID: 20973087.

Greetings

Egon

Thank you for the information, Egon!

Dear Sofia,

though not directly related to psychodynamic approaches, a look at attachment research may also prove useful (e.g., Paulk & Zayac [2013] Attachment Style as a predictor of risky sexual behavior in adolescents).

Best, Ramzi

Dear Sofia

Kernberg addresses risky sexual behavior quite often, e.g. in his book "Love Relations: Normality and Pathology".

Thank you both Ramzi and Dragica for your help!

Greetings, Sofia

From an historical point of view, Sandor Ferenczi's theory of the "confusion of tongues" between the "language of tenderness" of the child and the "language of passion" of the adult (see Ferenczi's 1932 paper with that title) has been groundbreaking in psychoanalysis.

There is a 2012 J Sexual Medicine review paper on adult attachment and sexual functioning that might prove useful to you (at least through the references).  Stefanou and McCabe are the authors.

I'd add that risky sexual behavior is greatly affected by extra-personal factors, such as race, income and geography.  In many instances this actually helps define whether the sexual behavior in question actually is risky (e.g., STI outcomes - if the prevalence in the pool of partners is very low, then STI is not much of a risk even with several sex partners).  For one well-cited example, Hallfors et al. (2007) in the American Journal of Public Health looked at US Black:White outcome differences for various clusters of behaviors.

The following is not per se psychodynamic thinking but influenced by it, and offering a very interesting take on the issue, particularly in young adults:

A5 attachment strategy in Dynamic Maturational Model of  Attachment and Adaptation - well described in chapter 7 of: 'Assessing Adult Attachment' by Crittenden & Landini