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Observed and Perceived Disclosure and Empathy Are Associated With Better Relationship Adjustment and Quality of Life in Couples Coping With Vulvodynia

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Abstract

Vulvodynia is a common idiopathic vulvovaginal pain condition that adversely affects the quality of life and intimate relationships of afflicted couples. Cross-sectional interpersonal factors, including how couples with vulvodynia communicate with each other, have been linked to women’s pain and couples’ relationship well-being. The current study investigated the observed and perceived associations between disclosure and empathic response, and couples’ relationship adjustment, as well as women’s pain during intercourse, and quality of life. Fifty women (M age = 24.50, SD = 4.03) diagnosed with vulvodynia and their partners (M age = 26.10, SD = 5.70) participated in a filmed discussion of the impact of this condition on their lives. Disclosure and empathic response were assessed by a trained observer and self-reported by participants immediately following the discussion. Analyses were based on the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. Greater observed empathic response and perceived disclosure in women were associated with their higher quality of life. When women demonstrated greater empathic response, they and their partners reported higher relationship adjustment. In addition, when partners perceived greater empathic response, women reported higher relationship adjustment. There were no significant associations between disclosure or empathic response and women’s pain during intercourse. Disclosure and empathic response may help women sustain the quality of their lives, and couples maintain the quality of their overall relationship while coping with the challenges that vulvodynia poses to their intimate connection. Increasing disclosure and empathic response might be a valuable target for enhancing the efficacy of couple-based interventions for vulvodynia.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) awarded to the first author, a doctoral fellowship awarded to the second author by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and an operating grant from the CIHR awarded to the last author. We are grateful to Delphine Lamothe-Maillé, Marilyn Dumais, and Catherine Grégoire for their assistance with data collection, and to the couples who contributed to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, P.O. Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Natalie O. Rosen & Sarah Vannier

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Natalie O. Rosen

  3. Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Katy Bois & Sophie Bergeron

  4. Health Center of the Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Marie-Hélène Mayrand

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  1. Natalie O. Rosen
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  2. Katy Bois
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  3. Marie-Hélène Mayrand
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  5. Sophie Bergeron
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Correspondence to Natalie O. Rosen.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Rosen, N.O., Bois, K., Mayrand, MH. et al. Observed and Perceived Disclosure and Empathy Are Associated With Better Relationship Adjustment and Quality of Life in Couples Coping With Vulvodynia. Arch Sex Behav 45, 1945–1956 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0739-x

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