According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine, sexual distress may not necessarily be a diagnostic indicator of female sexual dysfunction.

Study led by A. Burri of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College in London, unveiled that many women who experience sexual distress are not sexually dysfunctional.

For the purpose of study, researchers asked 930 British female twins to fill the questionnaire that enquired about participants’ history of abuse, relationship status, general anxiety and emotional functioning. Researchers used multiple regression analyses to identify other potential risk factors of sexual distress.

To examine the similar environmental and genetic risks, twins were also asked about obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality and sexual distress. On compiling the results, study authors found that 33% of the participants had some or the other reported orgasm problems and if these one-third women with sexual dysfunction, only 36.5% reported distress.

It was also found that of the sexually functional women, nearly 16.5% reported sexual distress. Study authors found that environment and genetics played a significant role in the development of orgasm disorders and distress.

Researchers also found link between sexual distress and other risk variables like relationship dissatisfaction, anxiety sensitivity and obsessive–compulsive symptomatology.

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