Limitation to the capacity to love and hypersexual behavior in their relationship with psychoticism and paranoid ideation

Background: Limitation to the Capacity to Love (CTL) and problematic sexuality could be considered as indicators of psychopathological suffering. Aim: We aimed to investigate the relationship between problematic sexuality, specifically hypersexuality, and the symptom dimensions of psychoticism and paranoid ideation, with a focus on the role of the CTL, in a non-clinical sample. Methods: Through an online platform, we recruited a convenience sample of 521 subjects (390 females and 131 males; age span: 18-50). Outcomes: Recruited subjects completed a psychometric protocol that included completion of the following measurement tools: (1) the Capacity to Love Inventory, (2) the Hypersexual Behavior Inventory, (3) the Brief Symptom Inventory. Results: Results indicated a significant inverse correlation between CTL and both paranoid ideation and psychoticism, with hypersexuality positively correlated with these symptoms. Linear regression analysis revealed that CTL acts as a protective factor, while hypersexuality is a predictive factor for both psychoticism and paranoid ideation. Clinical Implications: The study highlights the importance of evaluating sexual behavior and subclinical symptomatology in non-clinical populations, and it underscores the potential role of CTL as an indicator of relational functioning. Strengths and Limitations: The strength of this research lies undoubtedly in its innovative inclusion of the construct of CTL in studying the relationship between sexuality, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. However, the research design reveals a gender imbalance that may limit the significance of the findings. Moreover, the study was conducted on a sample primarily composed of students and individuals from Italian cultural backgrounds, which should be considered when generalizing the results. Conclusion: The relationship between the limitation of the CTL, hypersexuality and paranoid ideation and psychoticism (assessed with the SCL90) sheds light on the importance of integrating the assessment of a central aspect of human life, that is, the CTL, with problematic sexuality and psychopathological symptoms, in the clinical practice of prevention of sexual and psychological problems.