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 SCL-90) 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.