Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Archives of Sexual Behavior https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01678-y ORIGINAL PAPER Efects of a Sexual Health Interview among Arab American Women: An Experimental Disclosure Study Hannah J. Holmes 1,3  · Jolin B. Yamin 1  · Shoshana Krohner 1  · Lisa J. Rapport 1  · Emily R. Grekin 1  · Howard Schubiner 2  · Mark A. Lumley 1 Received: 4 September 2019 / Revised: 2 March 2020 / Accepted: 4 March 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Although sexuality is an important aspect of peoples’ health and well-being, many people—professionals and patients alike—fnd sexuality uncomfortable to discuss. In Arab culture, certain sexual thoughts and behaviors are taboo, particularly for women, and it is not known whether an interview in which Arab American women disclose their sexuality to a health professional would be well-received and benefcial or upsetting and harmful. This experimental study tested whether engaging in a disclosure-oriented sexual health interview afects Arab American women’s sexual and psychological health. A sample of 134 Arab American women, ages 18–35 years (M = 20.6), completed self-report measures of sexual health and attitudes and psychological symptoms, and then were randomized to an interview or control (waitlist) condition. The 60-min disclosure interview inquired about sexual attitudes, experiences, and conficts. Five weeks later, all participants completed follow-up measures. Post-interview reports suggest that participants responded favorably to the interview and generally benefted from participation. Analyses of covariance (controlling for baseline levels of the outcome measure) indicated that the interview led to signifcantly greater sexual satisfaction and less discomfort with sexual self-disclosure at 5-week follow-up, compared to controls; the two conditions did not difer on follow- up sexual self-schema, sexual self-esteem, or psychological symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed that participation in the interview diferentially improved the sexual self-schema of women with no past sexual experience, compared to women with sexual experience. These experimental fndings suggest the value, rather than the risk, of clinicians encouraging Arab American women to openly disclose and discuss their sexual experiences and attitudes in a confdential, empathic setting. Keywords Arab American · Sexual health · Interview · Disclosure · Moderation analyses Introduction Sexuality is a sensitive, often stigmatized topic, which many individuals fnd difcult or uncomfortable to discuss. Health- care providers, including mental health professionals, may be reluctant to assess or discuss sexual matters with patients due to fear of ofending patients or making them uncomfortable (Fennell & Grant, 2019; Hanzlik & Gaubatz, 2012). Individual characteristics such as cultural background further compli- cate sexual communication between providers and patients, as providers may hesitate to broach sexual topics with patients from relatively conservative cultural backgrounds. For exam- ple, Asian American women have reported perceiving stigma around discussion of sexuality in their families and communi- ties, which serves as a barrier to sexual and reproductive health care (Frost, Cares, Gelman, & Beam, 2016). Arab Americans comprise another group with relatively conservative sexual norms, which may cause providers to fear the potential con- sequences of broaching the topic of sexuality with their Arab American patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01678-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Hannah J. Holmes holmeshj1@appstate.edu 1 Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Ascension Providence Health and Michigan State University, Southfeld, MI, USA 3 Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, 222 Joyce Lawrence Lane, Boone, NC 28608, USA