A COMPARISON OF SEXUAL MYTHS, SEXUAL SELF-EFFICACY AND RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION OF WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT VAGINISMUS DIAGNOSIS

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to compare the sexual myths, sexual self-efficacy and relationship satisfaction of women with and without vaginismus diagnosis. Causal comparison method was used in the study. The population of this study consists of women over the age of 18 with and without vaginismus diagnosis. The study sample consists of 153 female participants diagnosed with vaginismus aged 18 years and over, selected by purposive sampling method. For the number of undiagnosed group, it also consists of 149 female participants without a diagnosis of vaginismus. Sociodemographic Information Form, Sexual Myths Form, Relationship Satisfaction Index and Sexual Self-Efficacy Scale were used to collect the research data. In the research findings, it was observed that the sexual orientation, age and sexuality, sexual behavior and masturbation levels of the participants diagnosed with vaginismus were higher than the sexual orientation, age and sexuality, sexual behavior and masturbation levels of the participants who were not diagnosed with vaginismus. It was observed that the sexual self-efficacy levels of the participants who were not diagnosed with vaginismus were higher than the sexual self-efficacy levels of the participants diagnosed with vaginismus. It was observed that the relationship satisfaction levels of the participants who were not diagnosed with vaginismus were higher than the relationship satisfaction levels of the participants diagnosed with vaginismus. In this context, clinicians should focus on women's sexual self-efficacy levels during vaginismus treatment and use methods to help increase their sexual self-efficacy during the treatment process. It is thought that this approach may help to increase the relationship satisfaction of women diagnosed with vaginismus.