Loneliness Mediates the Relationship Between Pain During Intercourse and Depressive Symptoms Among Young Women

Abstract

Previous research suggests that women who experience pain during intercourse also experience higher rates of depressive symptoms. Loneliness might be one factor that contributes to this relationship. We hypothesized that women who experience more severe and interfering pain during intercourse would report higher rates of loneliness and higher rates of depressive symptoms. Further, we hypothesized that loneliness would mediate the relationship between pain during intercourse and depressive symptoms. A total of 104 female participants (85.6% white, 74.03% partnered, 20.9 [3.01] years old) completed an online survey including demographic information, PROMIS Vaginal Discomfort Measure, PROMIS Depression Measure, and Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Pearson correlations and bootstrapped mediation analysis examined the relationships among pain during intercourse, loneliness, and depressive symptoms. Pain during intercourse, loneliness, and depressive symptoms were all significantly correlated (p < .05). Results of the mediation analysis indicated that loneliness was a significant mediator of the relationship between pain during intercourse and depressive symptoms (indirect effect = 0.077; 95% CI 0.05–0.19). After accounting for loneliness, pain during intercourse was not significantly related to depressive symptoms, suggesting that loneliness fully mediated the relationship between pain during intercourse and depressive symptoms. These findings are consistent with previous studies highlighting that pain during intercourse is related to depressive symptoms. The current study adds to that literature and suggests that more frequent and severe pain during intercourse leads to more loneliness, which then leads to increased depressive symptoms. This line of work has important implications for treating women who experience depressive symptoms and pain during intercourse.

Temporal Relationships Between Pain During Intercourse (PDI), Loneliness, and Depressive Symptoms Among Women

“…Results of the present study are consistent with some previous findings. For example, the present study replicated the results of the previously conducted pilot study 14 which found strong indirect effects of painful sex on depressive symptoms via loneliness using a cross-sectional study of college women. Various other studies have demonstrated cross-sectional correlations between painful sex and depressive symptoms.…”

“…Cross-Sectional Data Sensitivity Analyses. Given that a previous pilot study of cross-sectional data showed relationships between PDI, loneliness, and depressive symptoms, 14 an indirect effects analysis was run using cross-sectional data collected at baseline to determine whether cross-sectional patterns would replicate in the present sample. More severe PDI in the past 4 weeks was associated with greater loneliness (b = 0.584; 99% CI = 0.422 to 0.718), and greater loneliness was associated with greater depressive symptoms (b = 0.328; 99% CI = 0.124 to 0.515).…”

“…Currently, only one study has examined the relationship between painful sex and loneliness. Stout et al 14 found a positive cross-sectional correlation between pain during intercourse and loneliness, and analyses suggested painful sex was linked to depressive symptoms through loneliness (ie, indirect effects analysis). However, cross-sectional data cannot provide true tests of mediation.…”

“…This study uses a longitudinal design to advance the literature by expanding upon the findings from previous work on the painful sex-loneliness-depression relationship, including a cross-sectional pilot study. 14 A priori hypotheses were: H 1 : PDI, loneliness, and depressive symptoms would be positively correlated with one another at baseline (T1); H 2 : PDI, loneliness, and depressive symptoms (T1) would be positively correlated with 6-month follow-up depressive symptoms at Time 2 (T2) and with change in depressive symptoms (T2-T1); and H 3 : loneliness would mediate the relationship between baseline PDI and change in depressive symptoms.…”

Unwelcome Companions: Loneliness Associates with the Cluster of Pain, Fatigue, and Depression in Older Adults

“…In this study, we explored the possibility that loneliness may drive the cluster. Prior small studies have found that loneliness associates with pain, fatigue, and depression in certain specialized populations, including those with complex pain disorders ( Jacobs et al, 2006 ; Jaremka et al, 2014 ; Stout et al, 2018 ; Wolf & Davis, 2014 ). This relationship has yet to be confirmed in a general population of older adults.…”