Do romantic partners' responses to entry dyspareunia affect women's experience of pain? : the roles of catastrophizing and self-efficacy.

Introduction Entry dyspareunia is a sexual health concern which affects about 21% of women in the general population. Characterized by pain provoked during vaginal penetration, introital dyspareunia has been shown by controlled studies to have a negative impact on the psychological well-being, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, and quality of life of afflicted women. Many cognitive and affective variables may influence the experience of pain and associated psychosexual problems. However, the role of the partner's cognitive responses has been studied very little. Aim The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between partners' catastrophizing and their perceptions of women's self-efficacy at managing pain on one side and women's pain intensity, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction on the other. Methods One hundred seventy-nine heterosexual couples (mean age for women = 31, SD = 10.0; mean age for men = 33, SD = 10.6) in which the woman suffered from entry dyspareunia participated in the study. Both partners completed quantitative measures. Women completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Painful Intercourse Self-Efficacy Scale. Men completed the significant-other versions of these measures. Main Outcome Measures Dependent measures were women's responses to (i) the Pain Numeric Visual Analog Scale; (ii) the Female Sexual Function Index; and (iii) the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction scale. Results Controlled for women's pain catastrophizing and self-efficacy, results indicate that higher levels of partner-perceived self-efficacy and lower levels of partner catastrophizing are associated with decreased pain intensity in women with entry dyspareunia, although only partner catastrophizing contributed unique variance. Partner-perceived self-efficacy and catastrophizing were not significantly associated with sexual function or satisfaction in women. Conclusions The findings suggest that partners' cognitive responses may influence the experience of entry dyspareunia for women, pointing toward the importance of considering the partner when treating this sexual health problem.

Love and Beauty in the Romantic Poetry of Hindi and Malayalam

Hindi

A First approximation to the realism/idealism debate about the external world

El text intenta fer una primera aproximació al debat contemporani entre realistes i anti-realistes sobre el món empíric, centrant-se en les posicions de Putnam i Nagel. El seu objectiu principal és el d'entendre les motivacions de les posicions i l'estructura actual del debat, i el d'establir les característiques que hauria de tenir qualsevol posició satisfactòria

F. Hölderlin i S.T. Coleridge: recepció immediata i influència de la Crítica del Judici de Kant en els poetes del romanticisme

La tesi contrasta les conseqüències filosòfiques i la constel·lació temàtica de la Crítica del Judici, amb les manifestacions poeticofilosòfiques de F. Hölderlin i S.T. Coleridge. La font principal de recerca són aquelles tesis de la Crítica del Judici rellevants per comprendre l'esclat de l'idealisme allà on aquest nou sistema involucra significativament art i experiència estètica. Hölderlin s'instal·la de manera genuïna en la tensió entre l'idealisme i la filosofia crítica. Per la radicalitat dels seus plantejaments podrem presentar-lo també com a poeta romàntic o precedent del romanticisme. Pel que fa a Coleridge estudiem la recepció immediata de la filosofia Kantiana en el medi cultural britànic per contrastar el paper del poeta en la importació de la ideologia romàntica alemanya. L'objectiu és presentar Coleridge com a poeta que assumeix els postulats del romanticisme alemany i investigar si aquests postulats poden relacionar-se amb el balanç de la filosofia kantiana expressat a Crítica del Judici.

Attachment, borderline personality, and romantic relationship dysfunction

Previous studies have implicated attachment and disturbances in romantic relationships as important indicators for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The current research extends our current knowledge by examining the specific associations among attachment, romantic relationship dysfunction, and BPD, above and beyond the contribution of emotional distress and nonromantic interpersonal functioning in two distinct samples. Study 1 comprised a community sample of women (N = 58) aged 25–36. Study 2 consisted of a psychiatric sample (N = 138) aged 21–60. Results from both Study 1 and Study 2 demonstrated that (1) attachment was specifically related to BPD symptoms and romantic dysfunction, (2) BPD symptoms were specifically associated with romantic dysfunction, and (3) the association between attachment and romantic dysfunction was statistically mediated by BPD symptoms. The findings support specific associations among attachment, BPD symptoms, and romantic dysfunction.