Distress in wives of patients with psychosexual dysfunction : an exploratory study

The study was conducted with the aim of studying the wives of patients with psychosexual dysfunction with regard to the level of distress experienced and its relationship with their psychosocial dysfunction and marital adjustment. The sample comprised wives of 30 male patients with psychosexual dysfunction. Majority of the subjects was under matriculate, housewives, Hindus, and of urban background. Majority of their husbands suffered from combination of premature ejaculation and failure of genital response (60%). The subjects were found to be significantly more distressed, exhibited mild degree of psychosocial dysfunctioning. However, they had normal marital adjustment. The interrelationship between these three variables showed significantly positive correlation between distress and psychosocial dysfunction. Marital adjustment showed significant negative correlation with both the distress experienced and psychosocial dysfunctioning. These findings not only have implication for the management of these disorders, but may have prognostic value as well.