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Introduction Chronic prostatitis (CP) is a frequent prostate-related complaint, impacts negatively on quality of life and is mostly of unclear etiology. Increasing attention has been paid to the prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in CP patients; however, the impact of specific types of CP and the correlation of sexual dysfunctions with psychological disorders associated with CP are not well understood. Type IIIa CP is characterized by chronic pelvic pain, urination symptoms and white blood cells in expressed prostatic secretion, but free of bacterial infection. Methods A population of 600 type IIIa CP patients were randomly selected and 40 normal man were included as the control group. Queries were conducted by urologists. The National Institute of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and the Symptom Checklist 90-R were used to evaluate the symptoms and severity of prostatitis, erectile dysfunctions and psychological problems, respectively. Scores of ejaculatory pain and premature ejaculation were also collected. Results Our study revealed that sexual dysfunctions are frequently associated with this specific type of CP. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and ejaculatory pain was 19, 30 and 30 %, respectively. A variety of psychological problems exist among type IIIa CP patients, including depression, anxiety, somatization, obsessive–compulsive and interpersonal sensitivity. In particular, the severity of erectile dysfunctions, but not premature ejaculation and ejaculatory pain, correlated significantly with depression and anxiety. Conclusion Our data indicate that a moderate level of sexual dysfunctions exists among the type IIIa CP patients, and highlight the association of depression and anxiety with erectile dysfunction in CP patients, suggestting that special attention should be paid to these psychological issues in clinical treatments of the prostatitis symptoms and the associated erectile dysfunctions.