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Vaginismus: heightened harm avoidance and pain catastrophizing cognitions
Charmaine Borg1, Madelon L Peters, Willibrord Weijmar Schultz
1Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. c.borg@med.umcg.nl
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
|October 26, 2011
Summary
Women with vaginismus experience heightened pain catastrophizing and harm avoidance (HA). These traits are interwoven and predict vaginismus presence, offering insights for treatment.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Gynecology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Catastrophic appraisal of pain can intensify pain and hypervigilance.
- Harm avoidance (HA) may impede coping with painful experiences.
- Vaginismus can involve a cycle of anticipated pain, negative appraisal, and avoidance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate heightened pain catastrophizing cognitions in women with vaginismus.
- To assess elevated harm avoidance (HA) levels in women with vaginismus.
- To explore the relationship between pain catastrophizing, HA, and vaginismus.
Main Methods:
- Comparative study involving women with lifelong vaginismus (N=35), dyspareunia (N=33), and controls (N=54).
- Utilized Cloninger's tridimensional personality questionnaire for HA assessment.
- Employed the pain catastrophizing scale to measure pain cognitions.
Main Results:
- Women with vaginismus exhibited significantly higher pain catastrophizing cognitions than controls and dyspareunia groups.
- Vaginismus group showed significantly higher HA compared to the control group, with a trend versus the dyspareunia group.
- Both pain catastrophizing and HA demonstrated cumulative predictive validity for vaginismus.
Conclusions:
- Women with lifelong vaginismus display a distinct profile of heightened pain catastrophizing and harm avoidance (HA).
- These personality traits are interconnected and contribute to the presence of vaginismus.
- Findings may refine conceptualizations and inform treatment strategies for vaginismus.
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