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Alexithymia and vaginismus: a preliminary correlation perspective

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 25, pages 113–116 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of alexithymia and emotional dysregulation in women with vaginismus not associated with other organic or psychopathological disorders. The study involved the psychometric assessment of 41 patients with vaginismus and 100 healthy women, all of childbearing age. Alexithymia was evaluated by TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia Scale). Sexual function was assessed by FSFI (Female Sexual Function Index). In patients with vaginismus, the primary diagnosis of dyspareunia was excluded and an expert psychologist evaluated patients and controls according to DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: 4th edition) criteria to exclude mental disorders. Over half (51.1%) of the patients with vaginismus were classified as alexithymic or borderline (alexithymic trend), compared with just 18% of the control group. In addition, there was a significant difference in the TAS-20 total scores between the two groups (P<0.0001). In terms of relative risk, women suffering from vaginismus thus have a 3.8 times higher probability of showing alexithymia than do healthy women. Vaginismus is a complex syndrome and alexithymia is far from being its only characteristic. However, we found a significant correlation between vaginismus and alexithymia. In theory, alexithymia could thus be a risk factor for vaginismus, although future studies are required to demonstrate any chain of causation between these two conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by the PhD fellowships to GC, EL and GLG and by the Italian Ministry of Education grants. We thank Dr Alfonso Tiberi and Dr Claudia De Sanctis for their contribution to recruit a part of sample.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical, Applied and Biotechnological Sciences, School of Sexology, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

    G Ciocca, E Limoncin, S Di Tommaso, G L Gravina, S Di Sante, E Carosa & E A Jannini

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Teramo Hospital, Teramo, Italy

    A Tullii & A Marcozzi

  3. Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    A Lenzi

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  1. G Ciocca
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  2. E Limoncin
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Correspondence to E A Jannini.

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Ciocca, G., Limoncin, E., Di Tommaso, S. et al. Alexithymia and vaginismus: a preliminary correlation perspective. Int J Impot Res 25, 113–116 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2013.5

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