Are Depressive Symptoms and Attachment Styles Associated with Observed and Perceived Partner Responsiveness in Couples Coping With Genito-Pelvic Pain ?

Abstract

Partner responsiveness is thought to facilitate relationship adjustment in couples coping with genito-pelvic pain, such as provoked vestibulodynia (PVD). Recent studies suggest that attachment and depressive symptoms may act as a filter in the perception of partner responsiveness, and a barrier to the capacity of being responsive to a partner. Given studies suggesting higher depressive symptoms and relationship insecurities in women experiencing genito-pelvic pain compared to controls, investigating the role of these factors in partner responsiveness may help couples improve their wellbeing in the challenging context of PVD. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between depressive symptoms, attachment, and perceived and observed partner responsiveness in 50 couples coping with PVD. Participants took part in a videotaped discussion and completed self-report measures of depressive symptoms, attachment, and perceived partner responsiveness. Based on the actor-partner interdependence model, results indicated that when women and partners reported greater depressive symptoms and anxious attachment, they perceived each other as being less responsive. When partners experienced greater depressive symptoms, women and partners were rated, by a trained observer, as being less responsive to each other. Targeting depressive symptoms and relationship insecurity in couple therapy could increase responsiveness in couples coping with PVD.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and from the Research Centre on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS) to the last author. The authors would like to thank Mylène Desrosiers for her assistance with data collection.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS); Canadian Institutes of Health Research [MOP 69063].