Moderators of the Relationship Between Pain and Pain-Related Sexual Disability in Women with Provoked Vestibulodynia Symptoms
Authors: Maunder Larah , Dargie Emma , Pukall Caroline F. 
Published: March 2022

Background

Previous studies have demonstrated the deleterious effects of pain anxiety (ie, the degree to which one fears pain), stress, and solicitous partner responses (ie, expressions of sympathy and attention to one’s partner’s pain) on pain and pain-related disability, but little is known about whether these variables moderate the robust pain–pain-related disability relationship in individuals with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD).

Aim

We investigated whether pain anxiety, stress, and solicitous partner responses moderated the relationship between penetrative pain and pain-related sexual disability in women with PVD symptoms.

Methods

Participants with PVD symptoms (N = 65, age range = 18–73 years) completed an online survey assessing pain anxiety (Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-20), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), solicitous partner responses (WHYMPI Solicitous Responses Scale), penetrative pain (Female Sexual Function Index), and pain-related sexual disability (Pain Disability Index). Moderated regression analyses were performed using pain anxiety, stress, and solicitous partner responses as moderators of the relationship between penetrative pain, and pain-related sexual disability.

Outcomes

Outcomes in the current study included the moderating effect of pain anxiety, perceived stress, and solicitous partner responses on the relationship between penetrative genital pain and pain-related disability in sexual behavior.

Results

Higher genital pain from penetrative intercourse and higher pain anxiety significantly predicted higher pain-related sexual disability, but perceived stress was not significantly related to sexual disability. Solicitous partner responses were significantly positively correlated with pain-related sexual disability. None of the moderators significantly moderated the pain–pain-related sexual disability relationship.

Clinical Implications

For women with PVD, pain anxiety and solicitous partner responses to their pain may exacerbate their pain-related sexual disability, signifying that pain anxiety and solicitous partner responses represent important targets of therapeutic intervention for women with PVD.

Strengths and Limitations

The present study extended past research on the relationships between psychological and behavioral factors and pain in women with PVD symptoms by demonstrating the deleterious relationship between pain anxiety, solicitous responses, and pain-related sexual disability. However, the study was correlational in nature, which precludes conclusions about the effect of pain anxiety, and solicitous partner responses on pain-related sexual disability.

Conclusion

High pain anxiety and frequent solicitous partner responses to an individual’s pain predicted higher pain-related sexual disability, suggesting that it may be possible to improve the quality of life of PVD sufferers through interventions that aim to decrease pain anxiety, and solicitous partner responses, in addition to interventions that aim to decrease pain per se.