Mediating role of psychological distress and domestic violence in the association of fear of COVID-19 with marital satisfaction and sexual quality of life among women of reproductive age: An Iranian cross-sectional studyShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: BMJ Open, E-ISSN 2044-6055, Vol. 13, no 2Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
5. Gender equality, 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions, Sustainable Development
Abstract [en]
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the mediating role of psychological distress and domestic violence in the association of fear of COVID-19 with marital satisfaction and sexual quality of life (QoL) among Iranian women of reproductive age. METHODS: A cross-sectional study comprising 324 married women was conducted. Online convenience sampling was used to collect data. SPSS PROCESS macro was used for the mediation analysis. The direct and indirect effects of the fear of COVID-19 on sexual QoL and marital satisfaction were estimated comprising a 95% CI using 5000 bootstrap samples. Pairwise comparisons between the mediators were calculated by Hayes' macros. RESULTS: A positive/negative or suspected history of COVID-19 infection had marginally significant relationship with marital satisfaction (p=0.049). The total effect of fear of COVID-19 on sexual QoL was significant (b=-1.31, SE=0.20, p<0.001). Fear of COVID-19 had no significant direct effect on sexual QoL (b=-0.22, SE=0.19, p=0.24) but it had an indirect effect on sexual QoL via mediation of psychological distress (b=-0.34, SE=0.09, 95% CI: -0.53 to -0.19) and domestic violence (b=-0.75, SE=0.18, 95% CI: -1.12 to -0.40). The total effect of fear of COVID-19 on marital satisfaction was significant (b=-1.91, SE=0.32, p<0.001). Fear of COVID-19 had no significant direct effect (b=0.20, SE=0.25, p=0.42) on marital satisfaction but it had an indirect effect on marital satisfaction via mediation of psychological distress (b=-0.59, SE=0.13, 95% CI: -0.86 to -0.36) and domestic violence (b=-1.51, SE=0.29, 95% CI: -2.08 to -0.92). CONCLUSION: The fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic indirectly decreased women's marital satisfaction and sexual QoL via increased psychological distress and domestic violence. Consequently, in critical situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, improving couples' psychological health and reducing domestic violence are likely to improve women's sexual QoL and marital satisfaction.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 2023. Vol. 13, no 2
Keywords [en]
obstetrics, public health, sexual medicine
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-59813DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068916ISI: 001000964400020PubMedID: 36746547Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85147461091Local ID: GOA;intsam;861461OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-59813DiVA, id: diva2:1736679
2023-02-142023-02-142023-08-28Bibliographically approved