Effect of mindfulness on sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy in postmenopausal women: a quasi-experimental study.
J Sex Med
; 20(4): 542-548, 2023 03 31.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36881739
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Menopause is a turning point in women's lives and a major medical challenge, leading to drastic changes in sexual self-esteem and the husband-wife relationship, which can have an undeniable impact on the quality of their life.AIM:
To assess the effect of mindfulness-based education on sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy in postmenopausal women.METHODS:
This quasi-experimental study was conducted with 130 women who were assigned to 2 groups, intervention (n = 65) and control (n = 65), out of whom 127 completed the study. The interventional group received 8 training sessions. The mindfulness-based intervention consisted of 8 educational sessions and daily mindfulness exercises. Sexual self-esteem was assessed by the Sexual Self-esteem Index for Woman-Short Form, and marital intimacy was measured with Thompson and Walker's Intimacy Scale. The collected data were analyzed via analysis of covariance.OUTCOMES:
Outcomes included changes in sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy scores.RESULTS:
Participants in the intervention group demonstrated higher levels of total self-esteem posttreatment than participants in the control group (125.15 vs 119.46) and higher levels of intimacy (74.22 vs 61.59). The difference was still significant after adjusting for self-esteem (η2 = 0.312, P < .001) and intimacy (η2 = 0.573, P < .001) at baseline. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Mindfulness may be used as a strategy to improve sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy. STRENGTHS ANDLIMITATIONS:
Unlike other treatments, mindfulness seems to be low cost and less complex in improving sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy. Limitations of this study include use of available sampling methods, nonrandom allocation of participants, and self-reporting data collection.CONCLUSION:
As evidenced by the results, 8 weeks of mindfulness training could improve sexual self-esteem and marital intimacy in menopausal women. The mindfulness-based intervention should be incorporated into routine care to help menopausal women.Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Therapeutic Methods and Therapies TCIM:
Terapias_mente_y_cuerpo
/
Meditacion
Main subject:
Mindfulness
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
J Sex Med
Year:
2023
Type:
Article