PSY 4122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sexual Dysfunction, Jessica Andrews, Vulvar Vestibulitis
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 22, 2018
Uncovering the Truth About Sexual Pain Disorders
and Satisfaction
Jessica Andrews, McKenna Ashton Taylor Bebee, Renata Garcia de Leon, Jacqui McLaurin
(Group 9)
RQ
How do sexual pain disorders affect womenās sexual satisfaction?
Sexual Pain Disorders
Feelings of physical pain resulting from genital stimulation
Sexual Satisfaction
Affective response arising from oneās evaluation of his or her sexual relationship, including the perception that oneās
sexual needs are being met, and fulļ¬lling oneās own and oneās partnerās expectations
Dyspareunia
Pain during vaginal penetration
Includes:
-Vaginismus: uncontrolled, involuntary spasm of the vaginal muscles
-Vestibulodynia: pain in the entrance of the vagina (vestibule)
ā¢Area where the outside portion (vulva) meets the internal portion (vagina)
ā¢Vestibules contains glands the provide vaginal lubrication
-Vulvodynia: experience of an unknown, spontaneous pain in the form of burning, soreness, or throbbing in the
vulval area
Methods
Key concepts:
-Sexual satisfaction
-Sexual dysfunction
-Sexual pin disorders
-Women/females
PICO:
ī”1
March 22, 2018
-P: women over the age of 18
-Intervention; sexual pain disorders
-Comparison: abstinence, pain-free sex
-O: sexual satisfaction
Exclusion:
-Non-sexual disorders/diseases
-Medical treatments
-Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
-Pregnancy
Results: Negative Attitudes
Fear avoidance model (FAM): individuals prone to pain tend to focus, ruminate, and magnify the pain they
experiences
-Reduces sexual arousal
-FAM cognitive-affective variables (catastrophizing, fear, anxiety) were positively correlated with pain and negatively
correlated with sexual satisfaction
When partners are chronically focused on avoiding negative relationship experiences (i.e. conļ¬ict) it results in low
evaluation of the sexual relations for women
Avoiding negative outcomes in a relationship focuses attention towards negative impact of the pain condition on the
coupleās life, resulting in lower relationship satisfaction
Associated with higher sexual satisfaction/function: higher sexual satisfaction correlates to going into sex without
negative thoughts about sex or without expecting pain; need to think that everything is going to be ļ¬ne
-Decrease in negative/pain cognitions
-Increased positive cognitions
Results: Positive Attitudes
Couples who reported greater collaborative Sexual Communication Pattern also reported signiļ¬cant higher
relationship satisfaction
Studies of couples in which one person had chronic pain or vulvodynia, greater emotional disclosure, and empathic
response were associated with both partnerās greater sexual and relationship satisfaction
Pain Self-Efļ¬cacy (SE): degree to which someone feels they can cope with difļ¬cult stations that provoke pain
-Increase in pain SE were associated with decrease in pain and increaser in sexual satisfaction
-Mediates the relationship between pain and disability by increasing the patientsās engagement in the pain-
provoking behaviour; functioning to extinguish the association between pain and intercourse
ī”2
