(336) - Does anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with pain and its consequences? a daily diary study among couples coping with vulvodynia

Abstract

Vulvodynia is a prevalent idiopathic vulvovaginal pain condition that interferes with the sexual and mental health of affected couples. Research has underscored that psychological factors, such as anxiety and depression, contribute to its development and maintenance and associated sexual impairment. However, the daily role of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the pain and sexuality outcomes of couples coping with vulvodynia is not well understood. Using a dyadic daily experience method, 127 women (Mage = 26.21, SD = 6.24) diagnosed with vulvodynia and their male partners (Mage = 27.44, SD = 7.29) reported on anxiety and depressive symptoms, pain, sexual function and sexual distress over a period of eight weeks. Multilevel modeling was used to examine how daily deviations in anxiety and depressive symptoms from a participant's own mean were associated with pain, sexual function, and sexual distress. On days of sexual activity, women's higher anxiety and depressive symptoms were associated with women's greater pain and lower sexual function. Moreover, both women's higher depressive symptoms were associated with their own greater levels of sexual distress, and male partners' anxiety and depressive symptoms were correlated with their own and women's greater levels of sexual distress. Results suggest that daily anxiety and depressive symptoms may modulate women's vulvodynia-related pain, womens' sexual function and the couple's sexual distress. Targeting daily anxiety and depressive symptoms could enhance the efficacy of psychological interventions for vulvodynia. Supported by a grant from Fonds de recherche du Québec—Santé (FRQS) Fellowship.