Mental Health in Women with Vaginismus

Abstract

Introduction: Vaginismus disorder is one of the most common sexual disorders in women, which is characterized by involuntary muscle spasms of the outer third of the vagina and interferes with vaginal intercourse. Objective: The present study aimed to assess self-esteem, sexual self-concept, and irrational beliefs in vaginismus women with other women who do not have sexual problems. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted on 60 married women aged 18 to 35 years old (vaginismus=30, control=30) by convenient sampling in 2020. The samples were selected from a sexual disorders’ clinic. The written informed consent forms were obtained. It took 30 to 40 minutes to complete the questionnaires The Multidimensional Sex Questionnaire (MSQ), The Sexual Self-esteem Inventory for Women (SSEI-W) and Jones' Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT-40). The data were analyzed using statistical methods at the levels of descriptive and inferential statistics of chi-square and t-test with SPSS 23. Results: According to the calculated mean for each group, it can be said that the women with vaginismus vs. control had lower score in sexual self-concept (113.33 ± 21.66 vs. 125.26± 24.32). Further, the mean of Self-esteem and irrational belief in the vaginismus and control groups were 261.40±49 vs 223.36± 46.53 and 122.26±22.49 vs 118.333 that of the control group, indicating a significant statistical difference (p=0.003). Conclusion: The present study showed that women with vaginismus have lower sexual self-concept and self-esteem, but their non-sexual irrational beliefs have no difference with those of non-affected women though their non-sexual beliefs are different. Therefore, it seems that medical and educational programs must focus on changing these variables.