The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis
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 sen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2396134 |
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| author | Rashmi Pithavadian Tinashe Dune Jane Chalmers Vijayasarathi Ramanathan |
| author_facet | Rashmi Pithavadian Tinashe Dune Jane Chalmers Vijayasarathi Ramanathan |
| author_sort | Rashmi Pithavadian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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: Interconnected constructions of womanhood and help-seeking, Elicit agency to move forward, Resilience to surmount challenges with subthemes. Participant’s overall help-seeking experiences, within and outside the healthcare system, shaped their sense of self in ways that drove their approach/es to future help-seeking behaviours.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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5efe269a021b490bbbd4b0eded472e69 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2164-2850 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-5efe269a021b490bbbd4b0eded472e692025-08-20T02:31:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHealth Psychology and Behavioral Medicine2164-28502024-12-0112110.1080/21642850.2024.2396134The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysisRashmi Pithavadian0Tinashe Dune1Jane Chalmers2Vijayasarathi Ramanathan3School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, AustraliaTranslational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, AustraliaAllied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, AustraliaTranslational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, AustraliaObjective 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: Interconnected constructions of womanhood and help-seeking, Elicit agency to move forward, Resilience to surmount challenges with subthemes. Participant’s overall help-seeking experiences, within and outside the healthcare system, shaped their sense of self in ways that drove their approach/es to future help-seeking behaviours.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.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2396134Vaginismushelp-seekingsense of selfqualitative studywomen's health |
| spellingShingle | Rashmi Pithavadian Tinashe Dune Jane Chalmers Vijayasarathi Ramanathan The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine Vaginismus help-seeking sense of self qualitative study women's health |
| title | The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| title_full | The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| title_fullStr | The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| title_short | The interrelationship between women’s help-seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self: a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| title_sort | interrelationship between women s help seeking experiences for vaginismus and their sense of self a qualitative study and abductive analysis |
| topic | Vaginismus help-seeking sense of self qualitative study women's health |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2396134 |
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