ArticleHealth psychology and behavioral medicine2024
The interrelationship between women's help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis.
Article in Health psychology and behavioral medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Health Professionals' Approaches to Support Patient Diversity in the Assessment of Vaginismus: A Critical Feminist Qualitative Study for Inclusive Care.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Managing Vaginismus with Assisted Dilatation Multidisciplinary Protocol - Retrospective Cohort Study from Indonesia's Largest Dedicated Centre.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Objective: There is a lack of research on women's holistic experiences of vaginismus, also called sexual pain-penetration disorder, from their perspective. To address this gap, an abductive qualitative study aimed to examine women's help-seeking experiences for vaginismus, and its impact on their sense of self. Methods: This study was informed by a feminist approach to the theory of self focused on participants' negotiation of dis/empowerment when help-seeking for vaginismus. Twenty-one participants aged 19-37 years (mean 27.6 years) and diagnosed with vaginismus in Australia participated in semi-structured interviews, which were thematically analysed. Results: Three themes were developed: Conclusions: Positive help-seeking experiences for vaginismus strengthened participants' sense of self to persevere with treatment even when it was difficult. Conversely, negative help-seeking experiences led to participants' weakened sense of self which was often caused by a gap between their ideal and perceived self. This led to negative feelings and responses of demotivation or halting subsequent help-seeking. Recommendations are provided to improve health professional practice to support women help-seeking for vaginismus, and to help close the gap between their ideal and perceived selves. Such insight can help to empower women's sense of self and motivate them to persevere with help-seeking to experience improvement for their vaginismus and quality of life.
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