Psychosocial Factors Influence Sexual Satisfaction among Women with Vulvodynia

Abstract

Vulvodynia affects about 8% of women, many of whom report a negative impact on their ability to have sexually satisfying relationships. In this study, we examined predictors of sexual satisfaction in 207 women with clinically confirmed vulvodynia. We adapted a model examining resilience in chronic pain patients originally developed by Sturgeon and Zautra to include resilience factors (communication with partner about sexual health and coping strategies) and vulnerable factors (abuse history, pain intensity, rumination). These variables were regressed onto sexual satisfaction. In the full model, only emotion-based rumination was predictive of sexual satisfaction. Thus, focusing on emotion-based rumination in clinical intervention may improve sexual satisfaction.

Acknowledgments

The writing of this article was partially supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH-NICHD-058608). We also thank Heidi Fall for meticulous editorial and administrative support and Dr. Jill Dreyfus for statistical consultation.

Disclosure statement

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