The effect of exposure to emotional violence on sexual function, sexual quality of life and psychological well-being in women: Structural equation modeling.

ABSTRACT

Emotional violence is all of the destructive behaviors that humiliate the individual and cause him/her to feel under pressure to disrupt mental health. These destructive behaviors can affect women's sexuality. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of exposure to emotional violence on sexual function, sexual life quality, and psychological well-being in women. The study was conducted in a descriptive and relational screening model. The sample of the study consisted of 213 women. Personal information forms, the female sexual function index, the sexual quality of life questionnaire, the exposure to emotional violence scale, and the psychological well-being scale were used in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the direct and indirect predictive power of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The effect of exposure to emotional violence on psychological well-being (ß = -0.323; p < 0.001), and the effect of quality of sexual life on psychological well-being were statistically significant (ß =0.315; p < 0.001). Moreover, the effect of exposure to emotional violence on sexual life quality was determined to be statistically significant (ß = -0.665; p < 0.001). The effect of quality of sexual life on female sexual function was statistically significant (ß = -0.288; p = 0.002). Furthermore, while the effect of psychological well-being on the female sexual function index was not statistically significant (ß = -0.101; p = 0.266), the effect of exposure to emotional violence scale on the female sexual function index was statistically significant (ß = -0.087; p = 0.373). The mediating role of exposure to emotional violence in the relationship between sexual life quality and psychological well-being was high. Furthermore, the sexual life quality of 43.6 % of women was explained by exposure to emotional violence. On the other hand, 28.7 % of psychological well-being score was explained by the sexual life quality and exposure to emotional violence.