Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Investigating the Role of Sexual Distress in Marital Quality and Marital Intimacy of Married Women

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Department of Counseling,- Faculty of Education and Psychology- University of Isfahan- Isfahan- Iran
2 MSc Student of Rehabilitation Counseling, Faculty of Humanities, Payam Noor University, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the role of sexual distress in marital quality and marital intimacy of married women. Method: This study was applied and descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of the study included all married women in Isfahan city in 2023, of whom 212 were selected by voluntary sampling. The data were collected by the Marital Intimacy Needs Questionnaire, Perceived Relationship Quality Components Inventory (PRQC), and Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (FSDS-R) and were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation and linear regression using SPSS27. Findings: The correlation coefficients indicated that women’s sexual distress had a significant negative relationship with marital quality and all its dimensions, including satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, trust, passion, and love (p < 0.01). There was also a significant negative relationship between sexual distress and marital intimacy and its eight dimensions (p < 0.01). The regression analysis results revealed that 25% of marital quality and 15% of marital intimacy of married women were predicted by sexual distress. Conclusion: it can be concluded that sexual distress, a variable perceived differently from sexual disorders, might reduce women’s marital quality and intimacy.
Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 02 October 2026

  • Receive Date 26 September 2023
  • Revise Date 16 November 2023
  • Accept Date 22 December 2023
  • First Publish Date 16 September 2026
  • Publish Date 02 October 2026