Internet-Based Guided Self-Help for Vaginal Penetration Difficulties: Results of a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Anna Carlotta Zarski
  • Matthias Berking
  • Christina Fackiner
  • Christian Rosenau
  • David Daniel Ebert

Introduction Difficulties with vaginal penetration can severely affect a woman's desire to have sexual intercourse, her sexual and general well-being, or her partnership. However, treatment opportunities for vaginismus are scarce. Aim To evaluate the efficacy of an internet-based guided self-help intervention for vaginismus in a randomized controlled pilot trial. Methods Seventy-seven women with vaginismus (primary inclusion criterion = no intercourse ≥ 6 months) were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG) and a waitlist control group (WCG). The intervention consisted of 10 sessions involving psychoeducation, relaxation exercises, sensate focus, and gradual exposure with dilators. Participants received written feedback on completed sessions from an eCoach. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was successful sexual intercourse. Secondary outcomes were non-intercourse penetration, fear of coitus, sexual functioning, and dyadic coping. Self-reported assessments were scheduled at baseline, 10 weeks, and 6 months. Results More participants (10 of 40, 34.48%) in the IG had intercourse compared with those in the WCG (6 of 37, 20.69%) at least once at 10 weeks or 6 months (odds ratio = 2.02). The difference was not significant (χ21 = 1.38, P = .38), but in the IG, there was a significant increase in intercourse penetration from baseline to 6 months (d = 0.65). No such increase was found in the WCG (d = 0.21). There were significant between-group effects concerning non-intercourse penetration (self-insertion of a finger or dilator or insertion by the partner) in favor of the IG. Fear of coitus and dyadic coping significantly decreased in the IG. Overall satisfaction with the training was high. Conclusion This randomized controlled trial showed promising effects of an internet-based intervention by increasing participants' ability to have intercourse and non-intercourse penetration while experiencing high treatment satisfaction. The WCG also showed improvement, although participants had vaginismus for an average duration of 6 years. Internet-based interventions could be a treatment modality to complement other methods in stepped care for vaginal penetration difficulties.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Sexual Medicine
Volume14
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)238-254
Number of pages17
ISSN1743-6095
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.02.2017

    Research areas

  • Female Sexual Functioning, Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder, Internet Intervention, Randomized Controlled Trial, Sexual Dysfunction Disorder, Vaginismus
  • Psychology
  • Health sciences

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Has a child a duty to donate hematopoietic stem cells to a sibling?
  2. Professional Text Genres: Writing Standards in Vocational Education
  3. Thesen zur Förderung nachhaltigen Konsums in Bildungseinrichtungen
  4. Schwerpunktbereich - Einführung in das Planfeststellungsrecht [Part 2]
  5. Schwerpunktbereich - Einführung in das Planfeststellungsrecht [Part 1]
  6. Steigert das Product-Service System Cloud-Computing die Ökoeffizienz?
  7. Selbstkonzept von Lernenden beim Abschätzen physikalischer Größen
  8. Lagrangian structures and transport in turbulent magnetized plasmas
  9. Defining and reorienting competencies for sustainable global change
  10. Ausgewählte Entwicklungen und Konfliktlinien in der Grounded Theory
  11. America's army and the military recruitment and management of 'talent'
  12. Arbeitswissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu Arbeitszeit und Gesundheit
  13. Innerstädtisches Einkaufszentrum versus "Rest-City" am Beispiel Siegen
  14. Sprachdiagnose, Sprachförderung und Sprachbildung in der Grundschule
  15. Orban vs. Europäische Union: Europäische Außenpolitik als Druckmittel
  16. Nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung als Kontext für ökonomische Bildung
  17. Strafbarkeitsrisiken für Anwälte im Rahmen von Abmahnungen und Deals
  18. Building capacities for transformative change towards sustainability
  19. Towards a Conceptual Framework of Business Models for Sustainability
  20. Sprachliche Muster als Indikator für die Angemessenheit eines Textes
  21. Depression-specific Costs and their Factors based on SHI Routine data
  22. Entrepreneurial stress and long term survival: Is there a causal link?
  23. Auenböden der Elbe als Archiv für die Stoffdynamik im Einzugsgebiet
  24. The Role of Output Vocabulary in T2T LMs for SPARQL Semantic Parsing
  25. Landschaftsbilder und Landschaftsverständnisse in Politik und Praxis
  26. Stützlehrer als neuer pädagogischer Profi in der Beruflichen Bildung.
  27. Measurement Estimation Skills and Strategies of Lower Grade Students
  28. Schreibkompetenz Hamburger Schülerinnen und Schüler in der 11. Klasse
  29. Geschäftsmodelle und Erfolgsfaktoren von deutschen Bioenergiedörfern
  30. Sozial- und naturwissenschaftliche Bildung in der Grundschule Italiens
  31. Predicting outcome of Internet-based treatment for depressive symptoms
  32. Interaktion zwischen Personen mit und ohne kognitive Beeinträchtigung
  33. Die Lüneburger Landwehr als Gegenstand der Kulturlandschaftsforschung
  34. Erroneous Examples: A Preliminary Investigation into Learning Benefits
  35. Towards a Bayesian Student Model for Detecting Decimal Misconceptions
  36. Rekonstruktive Forschung mit Akteuren im frühpädagogischen Praxisfeld
  37. Learning about European neighbours in primary school teacher training
  38. The Impact of Mental Fatigue on Exploration in a Complex Computer Task
  39. Entwicklung des ,,KI-Campus - die Lernplattform für Künstliche Intelligenz"
  40. Das Mitsichführen von Waffen - sogar bei ortsfesten "Selbstschussanlagen?"
  41. Schulinspektionen in Deutschland - eine erste empirische Zwischenbilanz.
  42. A Method to Enhance the Accuracy of Time of Flight Measurement Systems
  43. Bedarfsanalyse für Kinder psychisch kranker Eltern in Nervenarztpraxen