The role of sexual communication in the relationship between emotion regulation and sexual functioning in women: the impact of age and relationship status

• Giorgio Falgares ^[2] ; Giulia Costanzo ^[2] ; Lilybeth Fontanesi ^[3] ; Maria Cristina Verrocchio ^[3] ; Franco Bin ^[1] ; Daniela Marchetti ^[3]
  1. [1] Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Roma Capitale, Italia

     
  2. [2] Universidad de Palermo, Italia
  3. [3] Universidad de Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italia

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: International journal of clinical and health psychology, ISSN 1697-2600, Vol. 24, Nº. 3, 2024, págs. 91-100
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100482
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Objective The aim of this study was to investigate sexual communication as a mechanism involved in the link between emotion regulation and sexual functioning in a sample of adult women, also testing the moderating role of relationship status and age in this association.

    Method 1344 sexually active cisgender women (aged 18–57, M = 27.34; SD= 6.484) were recruited from March 30, 2021, to April 12, 2021, through an online survey. From the initial sample, 1280 women were retained and included in the analysis. Participants were asked to respond to three self-report questionnaires: the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Communication subscale of the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSS-W), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI).

    Results We found that sexual communication mediated the link between emotion regulation abilities and female sexual functioning. Moreover, we found that age, but not relationship status, moderated the association between emotion regulation and sexual communication, so that older women with difficulties in emotion regulation processes showed worse sexual communication abilities as compared to younger women.

    Conclusions According to this study's results, clinicians and sexual therapists should carefully consider emotion regulation abilities and sexual communication as crucial factors in promoting women's sexual well-being.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Ambler, D. R., Bieber, E. J., & Diamond, M. P. (2012). Sexual function in elderly women: A review of current literature. Reviews in Obstetrics...
  • American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychology and code of conduct, 2010 Amendments. American Psychologist,...
  • Armstrong, E. A., England, P., & Fogarty, A. C. (2012). Accounting for women’s orgasm and sexual enjoyment in college hookups and relationships....
  • Basson, R. (2000). The female sexual response: A different model. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26(1), 51–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/009262300278641
  • Botta, D., Nimbi, F. M., Tripodi, F., Silvaggi, M., & Simonelli, C. (2019). Are role and gender related to sexual function and satisfaction...
  • Carmassi, C., Conti, L., Gravina, D., Nardi, B., & Dell’Osso, L (2022). Emotional dysregulation as trans-nosographic psychopathological...
  • Cupach, W. R., & Metts, S. (1991). Sexuality and communication in close relationships. In K. McKinney, & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Sexuality...
  • Dube, J. P., Dawson, S. J., & Rosen, N. O. (2020). Emotion regulation and sexual well- being among women: Current status and future directions....
  • Falconier, M. K., Wojda-Burlij, A. K., Conway, C. A., & Kim, J. (2022). The role of emotion regulation in couples’ stress communication...
  • Filocamo, M. T., Serati, M., Li Marzi, V., Costantini, E., Milanesi, M., Pietropaolo, A., et al. (2014). The female sexual function index...
  • Fischer, V. J., Andersson, G., Billieux, J., & Vo¨gele, C. (2022). The relationship between emotion regulation and sexual function and...
  • Fitzpatrick Bettencourt, K. E., Vacha-Haase, T., & Byrne, Z. S (2011). Older and younger adults’ attitudes toward feminism: The influence...
  • Fonagy, P., Steele, H., Steele, M., & Holder, J. (1997). Attachment and theory of mind: Overlapping constructs? Association for Child...
  • Galizia, R., Theodorou, A., Simonelli, C., Lai, C., & Nimbi, F. M. (2023). Sexual satisfaction mediates the effects of the quality of...
  • Giromini, L., Velotti, P., de Campora, G., Bonalume, L., & Cesare Zavattini, G. (2012). Cultural adaptation of the difficulties in emotion...
  • Graham, C. A., Sanders, S. A., Milhausen, R. R., & McBride, K. R. (2004). Turning on and turning off: A focus group study of the factors...
  • Granville, L., & Pregare, J. (2018). Women’s sexual health and aging. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(3), 595–601. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.15198
  • Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure,...
  • Gross, J. J. (2008). Emotion regulation. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 497–512)....
  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford...
  • Hayes, R., & Dennerstein, L. (2005). The impact of aging on sexual function and sexual dysfunction in women: A review of population-based...
  • IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. (2019). Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.
  • Jones, A. C., Robinson, W. D., & Seedall, R. B. (2017). The role of sexual communication in couples’ sexual outcomes: A dyadic path analysis....
  • Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.
  • MacNeil, S., & Byers, E. S. (2005). Dyadic assessment of sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction in heterosexual dating couples....
  • MacNeil, S., & Byers, E. S. (2009). Role of sexual self-disclosure in the sexual satisfaction of long-term heterosexual couples. The Journal...
  • Mallory, A. B. (2022). Dimensions of couples’ sexual communication, relationship satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal...
  • Mallory, A. B., Stanton, A. M., & Handy, A. B. (2019). Couples’ sexual communication and dimensions of sexual function: A meta-analysis....
  • Mark, K. P., Leistner, C. E., & Garcia, J. R. (2016). Impact of contraceptive type on sexual desire of women and of men partnered to contraceptive...
  • Meston, C., & Trapnell, P. (2005). Development and validation of a five-factor sexual satisfaction and distress scale for women: The Sexual...
  • Meston, C. M., Freihart, B. K., Handy, A. B., Kilimnik, C. D., & Rosen, R. C. (2020). Scoring and interpretation of the FSFI: What can...
  • Metz, M. E., & McCarthy, B. W. (2011). Enduring desire: Your guide to lifelong intimacy. Routledge.
  • Montgomery, D. C. (2017). Design and analysis of experiments. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Panzeri, M., & Fontanesi, L. (2013). La sessualit`a femminile: Fattori eccitanti e inibenti: Uno studio tramite focus group su donne...
  • Park, Y., & Macdonald, G. (2022). Single and partnered individuals’ sexual satisfaction as a function of sexual desire and activities:...
  • Peixoto, M. M., & Sousa, F. (2023). Difficulties in emotion regulation and sexual functioning in sports practitioners: A pilot study....
  • Perez-Herrezuelo, I., Aibar-Almazan, A., Martínez-Amat, A., Fabrega-Cuadros, R., Díaz-Mohedo, E., Wangensteen, R., et al. (2020). Female sexual...
  • Rancourt, K. M., Rosen, N. O., Bergeron, S., & Nealis, L. J. (2016). Talking about sex when sex is painful: Dyadic sexual communication...
  • Rehman, U. S., Rellini, A. H., & Fallis, E. (2011). The importance of sexual self-disclosure to sexual satisfaction and functioning in...
  • Rellini, A. H., Vujanovic, A. A., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2010). Emotion dysregulation: Concurrent relation to sexual problems among trauma-exposed...
  • Rosen, C., Brown, J., Heiman, S., Leiblum, C., Meston, R., Shabsigh, D., et al. (2000). The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A multidimensional...
  • Rosen, N. O., & Bergeron, S. (2019). Genito-pelvic pain through a dyadic lens: Moving toward an interpersonal emotion regulation model...
  • Sighinolfi, C., Norcini Pala, A., Chiri, L. R., Marchetti, I., & Sica, C. (2010). Difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS): The...
  • Stepp, S., Scott, L. N., Morse, J. Q., Nolf, K. A., Hallquist, M. N., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2014). Emotion dysregulation as a maintenance...
  • Vasconcelos, P., Oliveira, C., & Nobre, P. (2020). Self-compassion, emotion regulation and female sexual pain: A comparative exploratory...
  • Velten, J., & Margraf, J. (2017). Satisfaction guaranteed? How individual, partner, and relationship factors impact sexual satisfaction...
  • Wang, K., Maiolatesi, A. J., Burton, C. L., Scheer, J. R., & Pachankis, J. E. (2022). Emotion regulation in context: Expressive flexibility...
  • Wieczorek, L. L., Chivers, M., Koehn, M. A., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2022). Age effects on women’s and men’s dyadic and solitary...
  • Wongsomboon, V., Burleson, M. H., & Webster, G. D. (2019). Women’s orgasm and sexual satisfaction in committed sex and casual sex: relationship...
  • Wongsomboon, V., Webster, G. D., & Burleson, M. H. (2021). It’s the “why”: Links between (non)autonomous sexual motives, sexual assertiveness,...
  • World Medical Association. (2001). World medical association declaration of Helsinki. Ethical principles for medical research involving human...