Self-compassion, perfectionism, impostor phenomenon, stress and anxiety in patients with localized provoked vulvodynia

Abstract

Studies have shown that psychological distress has a role in the symptomology of localized provoked vulvodynia. Therefore, psychosocial support has been presented as a valuable part of the treatment. However, little is known about which psychological variables that coincide with localized provoked vulvodynia. The purpose of this study was to identify qualities of psychological distress in patients with localized provoked vulvodynia. Patients with localized provoked vulvodynia were consecutively recruited to participate in this cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring perfectionism, impostor phenomenon, self-compassion, anxiety and perceived stress. A sample of 30 patients were included. Questionnaire results suggestive of perfectionism was seen in 63%, impostor phenomenon in 80%, low self-compassion in 27%, anxiety in 43% and perceived stress in 23% of the participants. The level of self-compassion was higher in patients in a committed relationship. The investigated qualities appear to be more common in patients with localized provoked vulvodynia than in comparable groups. Impostor phenomenon and perfectionism were particularly common, with more than half of the study population scoring above the cutoff for clinical significance. This motivates research to investigate if interventions targeting impostor phenomenon and perfectionism, may aid in the treatment of localized provoked vulvodynia.

Keywords:

• Localized provoked vulvodynia
• impostor phenomenon
• perfectionism
• self-compassion
• anxiety
• stress

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the study participants for contributing to this study, and Eva-Lena Öberg for her diligence in the recruitment of study participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [NA], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.