The objective was to identify psychosocial factors associated with vaginismus. 120 women were recruited and interviewed at the Institute of Human Sexuality, 40 with lifelong vaginismus, and 80 controls without vaginismus. Participants were matched for age, education and date of admission. Women afraid of losing control during intercourse had 29.6 greater likelihood of developing vaginismus (p < 0.01), as well as those afraid of suffering pain (p < 0.001) or being physically damaged (tearing) (p < 0.01). There is evidence that women have higher likelihood of vaginismus if they present fears of pain, injuries, bleeding, fear of losing control, and having a panic attack if they engage in sex with penetration.
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