Sexual Function

Personality disorders can play a significant role in creating and perpetuating sexual function problems in women. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between personality patterns and types of female orgasms. The method of the present study was correlational, and a sample of 400 women in Tehran was selected by convenience sampling method. Tests used to collect data were Millon 3 questionnaires (MCMI-III), Women's Sexual Function Questionnaire (FSFI), and Orgasm Scale Assessment (ORS). According to the results, the highest disorder was related to the satisfaction subscale, and the lowest percentage of the research sample was in the orgasm subscale (25.9%) in the subscales of desire, arousal, humidity, and pain, respectively. The percentage of the research sample was 31, 32, 26.3, and 31.4%. According to the results, the narcissism and negativity subscales had a significant relationship with the types of orgasm (P <0.05) and the other subscales had no significant relationship. According to the results of logistic regression, avoidance, sadism, and borderline subscales were able to predict the types of orgasms and the coefficients of other paths in the regression model did not have significant coefficients (P <0.05).

Objective: In the professional lives of women, factors such as stress, long working hours, multiple roles, and work-family conflict can affect their sexual function. Therefore, this study aimed to predict sexual function based on sexual self-awareness and perfectionism in employed women. Methods: The present study was applied and descriptive-correlational. The study population consisted of employed women in Isfahan County, who were sampled using a convenience sampling method with 210 participants being examined. For data collection, Rosen, Myers, and Hatty's (2000) Female Sexual Function Questionnaire, Snell, Fisher, and Miller's (1991) Sexual Awareness Questionnaire, and Hill's (2004) Perfectionism Questionnaire were used. For data analysis in the inferential statistics part, simultaneous multiple regression was conducted using SPSS version 21. Findings: The findings indicate that sexual self-awareness and perfectionism can explain 15.2% of the variance in sexual function. The t-test for significance in the regression for the coefficient of sexual self-awareness (β = 0.292) and perfectionism (β = -0.271) is significant at the level below 0.01. Sexual self-awareness has a greater unique contribution in predicting the sexual function of employed women (α = 0.05). Conclusion: Ultimately, enhancing sexual self-awareness and controlling perfectionism can help maintain and improve the sexual function of employed women. According to the results obtained, sexual self-awareness, followed by perfectionism, predicts the sexual function of these women in their relationships.

Objective: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy and short-term psychodynamic therapy on sexual dysfunction and the quality of sexual life in women attending counseling and psychotherapy centers in Isfahan. Methods: The research design was a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The population included all women in Isfahan province suffering from sexual dysfunction in 2023. Sixty individuals were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned into three groups: twenty in the first experimental group, twenty in the second experimental group, and twenty in the control group. The first experimental group underwent emotion-focused psychological intervention based on the therapeutic protocol by Gilbert (2014) in fifteen 60-minute sessions, and the second experimental group received short-term psychodynamic psychological intervention based on the therapeutic protocol (Davanloo, 2013) in twelve 60-minute sessions held weekly, followed by a one-month follow-up. The control group was placed on a two-month waiting list for the most effective intervention. Data collection for analysis was conducted using the Rosen et al. (2000) Women's Sexual Dysfunction Questionnaire and the Simonds et al. (2005) Women's Sexual Life Quality Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using mixed ANOVA with SPSS version 25. Findings: The findings indicated that both treatments were effective in reducing sexual dysfunction in women (F = 73.08, p < .001) and improving the quality of sexual life (F = 18.02, p < .001). However, there was a significant difference between the effectiveness of the two therapeutic methods in reducing sexual dysfunction and increasing the quality of sexual life in women (p < .001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that both emotion-focused and short-term psychodynamic therapies are effective in reducing sexual dysfunction and improving the quality of sexual life in women. Both treatments can be used to reduce psychological issues in women attending counseling centers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy and transactional analysis on sexual function and sexual satisfaction in female patients with bipolar disorder. Methods: In this study, 20 women with bipolar disorder who referred to the Gyrus Specialty Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic in Tehran from April to August 2022 were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: mindfulness-based therapy, transactional analysis therapy, and a control group. All participants completed the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) by Rosen et al. (2000) and the Sexual Satisfaction Scale by Larson et al. (1998) before and after the intervention. The mindfulness-based therapy group underwent eight 90-to-120-minute sessions held twice a week, while the transactional analysis group received treatment in nine 60-to-120-minute sessions held twice a week. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis. Findings: The results indicated that both mindfulness-based therapy and transactional analysis therapy had an effect on sexual function and sexual satisfaction in female patients with bipolar disorder. Moreover, a comparison of the effectiveness of the two therapeutic approaches across all dimensions showed that mindfulness-based therapy had a greater impact on sexual function and sexual satisfaction in female patients with bipolar disorder compared to transactional analysis. Conclusion: Therefore, the use of mindfulness-based therapy is recommended in psychology clinics.

Objective: Family dynamics play a significant role in establishing emotional relationships among its members and fostering psychological well-being, which extends to individual and collective members' peace of mind. This study aimed to investigate the impact of parenting styles and sexual education styles of parents, with anxiety as a mediating variable, on the sexual performance of married women. Method: The study population consisted of married women who presented with sexual dysfunction at psychiatric and women's clinics in Tehran. Since the minimum number of samples in structural equation modeling is 200 individuals, 200 individuals were selected through convenience sampling. The research instruments included Baumrind's Parenting Styles Scale (1972), Parental Sexual Education Styles Scale (2010), Beck Anxiety Scale (1990), and Rosen et al.'s Sexual Performance Scale (2000). Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. Results: The findings of the present study showed that anxiety does not have a mediating effect on the effect of parents' strict sexual education style on the sexual performance of married women, but it has a complete mediating effect on the sexual performance of married women in the authoritative sexual education style of parents. Also, anxiety has a partial mediating effect on the impact of parents' authoritarian parenting style on married women's sexual performance, and it does not have a mediating effect on the parents' authoritarian parenting style on married women's sexual performance (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that the sexual performance of married women is significantly influenced by the styles of parenting and sexual education they received, with anxiety playing varied mediating roles. An authoritative approach to sexual education, coupled with parenting styles that manage to reduce anxiety, tends to enhance sexual performance in women.

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the structural model describing the connection between sexual function and psychosocial factors with life satisfaction based on the mediator role of cognitive emotion regulation in women with endometriosis. Method: This present study was a descriptive correlational research based on structural equations. The statistical population of the study included all women with endometriosis, referring to Arash Hospital as a referral Women's Center and Gynecological office in Tehran, Iran, in 2023-2024. According to Morgan's formula, a sample of 357 participants was chosen through convenience sampling. The tools employed in this study for data collection were the Women’s Sexual Function Index (Isidori et al., 2010), Short Form Symptom Checklist-25-Revised (Derogatis et al., 1973), Social Health Questionnaire (Keyes, 2004), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diner, 1985). Data analysis was done using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and path analysis, and AMOS22 software was utilized to assess the proposed model, and the mediating relationships within it were also calculated using the bootstrap method. Results: The findings from structural equation modeling supported the model's goodness of fit and indicated that psychological factors negatively affect life satisfaction through the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation in women with endometriosis (β= -0.114, p<0.001). In addition, the relationship between biological and social factors and life satisfaction through the mediating variable was not found to be significant. Nevertheless, the overall effect of psychological, social, and biological factors (including the sum of direct and indirect pathways) in connection with life satisfaction was significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings, the model has a good fit, and cognitive emotion regulation has a mediating role in the relationship between sexual function and psychosocial factors with life satisfaction. This study offers a valuable framework for recognizing key factors influencing life satisfaction in women with endometriosis, which should be taken into account in psychological treatment programs.