Department of Sexology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
J Sex Med. 2013 Sep;10(9):2274-84. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12252. Epub 2013 Jun 27.
Entry dyspareunia is a sexual health concern which affects about 21% of women in the general population. Characterized by pain provoked during vaginal penetration, introital dyspareunia has been shown by controlled studies to have a negative impact on the psychological well-being, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, and quality of life of afflicted women. Many cognitive and affective variables may influence the experience of pain and associated psychosexual problems. However, the role of the partner's cognitive responses has been studied very little.
The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between partners' catastrophizing and their perceptions of women's self-efficacy at managing pain on one side and women's pain intensity, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction on the other.
One hundred seventy-nine heterosexual couples (mean age for women = 31, SD = 10.0; mean age for men = 33, SD = 10.6) in which the woman suffered from entry dyspareunia participated in the study. Both partners completed quantitative measures. Women completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Painful Intercourse Self-Efficacy Scale. Men completed the significant-other versions of these measures.
Dependent measures were women's responses to (i) the Pain Numeric Visual Analog Scale; (ii) the Female Sexual Function Index; and (iii) the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction scale.
Controlled for women's pain catastrophizing and self-efficacy, results indicate that higher levels of partner-perceived self-efficacy and lower levels of partner catastrophizing are associated with decreased pain intensity in women with entry dyspareunia, although only partner catastrophizing contributed unique variance. Partner-perceived self-efficacy and catastrophizing were not significantly associated with sexual function or satisfaction in women.
The findings suggest that partners' cognitive responses may influence the experience of entry dyspareunia for women, pointing toward the importance of considering the partner when treating this sexual health problem.
进入性疼痛是一种影响大约 21%普通人群中女性的健康问题。这种疼痛特征是在阴道插入时引起的疼痛，已被对照研究证明会对受影响女性的心理健康、性功能、性满足感和生活质量产生负面影响。许多认知和情感变量可能会影响疼痛的体验和相关的性心理问题。然而，伴侣的认知反应的作用研究得很少。
本研究的目的是检验伴侣的灾难化认知与其对女性管理疼痛的自我效能的感知之间的关联，以及女性的疼痛强度、性功能和性满足感。
179 对异性恋夫妇（女性的平均年龄为 31 岁，标准差为 10.0；男性的平均年龄为 33 岁，标准差为 10.6）参加了这项研究，其中女性患有进入性疼痛。双方都完成了定量测量。女性完成了疼痛灾难化量表和性交疼痛自我效能量表。男性完成了这些措施的重要他人版本。
因变量是女性对（i）疼痛数字视觉模拟量表；（ii）女性性功能指数；和（iii）全球性满足感量表的反应。
控制了女性的疼痛灾难化和自我效能感，结果表明，在患有进入性疼痛的女性中，伴侣感知的自我效能感较高，伴侣灾难化程度较低与疼痛强度降低有关，尽管只有伴侣灾难化程度有独特的差异。伴侣感知的自我效能和灾难化与女性的性功能或满意度没有显著关联。
这些发现表明，伴侣的认知反应可能会影响女性进入性疼痛的体验，这表明在治疗这种性健康问题时，考虑伴侣是很重要的。
