Provoked vestibulodynia : mediators of the associations between partner responses, pain, and sexual satisfaction.

Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a chronic, recurrent vulvo-vaginal pain condition affecting 12% of the general population, and is associated with sexual dysfunction, psychological distress, and reduced quality of life. There is growing interest in the role of interpersonal variables in PVD, which have been widely neglected. In a sample of 175 couples, the present study examined the mediating roles of partner and participant catastrophizing and self-efficacy in the association between solicitous partner responses and pain intensity, and that of dyadic adjustment in the association between solicitous and negative partner responses and sexual satisfaction. Couples completed measures of partner responses, catastrophizing, self-efficacy, dyadic adjustment, and depression. Women also completed measures of pain, sexual satisfaction, and sexual function. Controlling for depression and solicitousness perceived by the other member of the couple, catastrophizing and self-efficacy partially mediated the association between higher solicitous responses and higher pain during intercourse, accounting for 26 and 25% of the variance in this association for participant and partner-perceived responses, respectively. For both participant and partners, only pain catastrophizing was a unique mediator. Controlling for depression, sexual function and partner-perceived responses, dyadic adjustment partially mediated the association between higher participant-perceived solicitous responses and higher sexual satisfaction, and between higher participant-perceived negative responses and lower sexual satisfaction, accounting for 26% of the variance in each association. The current findings suggest that catastrophizing and dyadic adjustment may constitute a route by which partner responses exacerbate pain and increase or decrease sexual satisfaction in PVD couples.

Harmful or helpful : perceived solicitous and facilitative partner responses are differentially associated with pain and sexual satisfaction in women with provoked vestibulodynia.

Introduction.  Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a highly prevalent vulvovaginal pain condition that negatively affects women's emotional, sexual, and relationship well-being. Recent studies have investigated the role of interpersonal variables, including partner responses. Aim.  We examined whether solicitous and facilitative partner responses were differentially associated with vulvovaginal pain and sexual satisfaction in women with PVD by examining each predictor while controlling for the other. Methods.  One hundred twenty-one women (M age = 30.60, SD = 10.53) with PVD or self-reported symptoms of PVD completed the solicitous subscale of the spouse response scale of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory, and the facilitative subscale of the Spouse Response Inventory. Participants also completed measures of pain, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, trait anxiety, and avoidance of pain and sexual behaviors (referred to as “avoidance”). Main Outcome Measures.  Dependent measures were the (i) Pain Rating Index of the McGill Pain Questionnaire with reference to pain during vaginal intercourse and (ii) Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction Scale. Results.  Controlling for trait anxiety and avoidance, higher solicitous partner responses were associated with higher vulvovaginal pain intensity (β = 0.20, P = 0.03), and higher facilitative partner responses were associated with lower pain intensity (β = −0.20, P = 0.04). Controlling for sexual function, trait anxiety, and avoidance, higher facilitative partner responses were associated with higher sexual satisfaction (β = 0.15, P = 0.05). Conclusions.  Findings suggest that facilitative partner responses may aid in alleviating vulvovaginal pain and improving sexual satisfaction, whereas solicitous partner responses may contribute to greater pain.

Woman and partner-perceived partner responses predict pain and sexual satisfaction in vestibulodynia couples

Introduction.  Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a highly prevalent vulvovaginal pain condition that results in significant sexual dysfunction, psychological distress, and reduced quality of life. Although some intra-individual psychological factors have been associated with PVD, studies to date have neglected the interpersonal context of this condition. Aim.  We examined whether partner responses to women's pain experience—from the perspective of both the woman and her partner—are associated with pain intensity, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction. Methods.  One hundred ninety-one couples (M age for women = 33.28, standard deviation [SD] = 12.07, M age for men = 35.79, SD = 12.44) in which the woman suffered from PVD completed the spouse response scale of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory, assessing perceptions of partners' responses to the pain. Women with PVD also completed measures of pain, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, depression, and dyadic adjustment. Main Outcome Measures.  Dependent measures were women's responses to: (i) a horizontal analog scale assessing the intensity of their pain during intercourse; (ii) the Female Sexual Function Index; and (iii) the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction Scale. Results.  Controlling for depression, higher solicitous partner responses were associated with higher levels of women's vulvovaginal pain intensity. This association was significant for partner-perceived responses (β = 0.29, P < 0.001) and for woman-perceived partner responses (β = 0.16, P = 0.04). After controlling for sexual function and dyadic adjustment, woman-perceived greater solicitous partner responses (β = 0.16, P = 0.02) predicted greater sexual satisfaction. Partner-perceived responses did not predict women's sexual satisfaction. Partner responses were not associated with women's sexual function. Conclusions.  Findings support the integration of dyadic processes in the conceptualization and treatment of PVD by suggesting that partner responses to pain affect pain intensity and sexual satisfaction in affected women.

A Study on the Quality Attributes of Kerala as a Global Tourism Destination-2005

The study was carried out with the broad objective to understand the quality attributes of Kerala as a global tourism destination. It also sheds some light on the nature of international travel market for Kerala in terms of activities , benefit sought , country and trip profile. For understanding the difference in level of tourists perception , the study also tried to compare overall trip satisfaction and impression with destination for different tourists groups categorized into country of origin and various socio-demographic groups.

Coastal Tourism in Kerala: Its Impact on Economy and Environment

School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology

E-marketing motivators,inhibitors and critical success factors: A study of small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTES) in Mauritius and Andaman islands, India

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have a dramatic impact on the tourism industry because they force this sector as a whole to rethink the way in which it organises its business . In the light of such rethinking within the tourism industry, this study has focussed on the Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) in two island destinations, namely Mauritius and Andaman Islands, India.Suggestions. The findings conceming SMTEs in Mauritius and Andaman Islands have been compared to make some destination-specific inferences. The relevance of the findings has been discussed with reference to the SMTEs in the two destinations as well as the possible acceptability in other comparable settings. Suggestions have been made for further research in SMTEs’ use of the Internet for marketing function.

Social Media- A relevant tool for tourism and hospitality marketing

Tourism is an industry which is heavily dependent on marketing. Mouth to mouth communication has played a major role in shaping a number of destinations.This is particularly true in modern parlance.This is social networking phenomenon which is fast spreading over the internet .Many sites provide visitors a lot of freedom to express their views.Promotion of a destination depends lot on conversation and exchange of information over these social networks.This paper analyses the social networking sites their contribution to marketing tourism and hoapitality .The negetive impacts phenomena are also discussed

Challenges Faced by Kerala Tourism Industry

Tourism being a smokeless industry is now a multi-billion, multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional activity in the world. Twenty first century tourism has reached up to space when a Russian rocket carried the space vehicle of Dennis Tito, an American businessman and the world’s first space tourist, to the space station. Time is not too far to carry tourists to moon and other planets in specially launched vehicles. Tourism is being considered as an agent of social change bridging gaps among nations, regions and people and helping them to open up. It is a promoter of development-material and spiritual both at macro and micro level. The General Assembly of the United Nations, in designating the year 1967 as ‘International Tourism Year’ recognized the importance of international travel as a means of fostering understanding among people, and giving them a knowledge of the rich heritage of the past civilizations, a better appreciation of the values of different cultures, thus contributing to the strengthening of world peace. It adopted the theme “Tourism-Passport to peace”. Our veteran national leader and the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru had said” welcome a tourist and send back a friend” which indicates the need for extending friendly hospitality to the in bound tourists. Modern transportation has removed the obstacles of distance enabling people to appreciate each other engage in the exchange of ideas and commerce. Tourism can help overcome real prejudices and foster bonds. Tourism can be a real force of world peace. Considering the vast and varied potential of tourism in the state and its impact on the economic, social and cultural environment of the state, a detailed study is found to be relevant and imperative

Democracia y diferencia sexual.

Monográfico con el título: 'Educar para la igualdad y la libertad'. Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Experiencia de Educaci??n Sexual en el ciclo superior

Experiencia llevada a cabo en un centro de Ense??anza Primaria con alumnos de sexto de EGB sobre educaci??n sexual. Los objetivos fundamentales que se pretenden son: 1. Que el alumno conozca su sexualidad, sin traumas. 2. Ayudar al alumno en su desarrollo psicofisiol??gico. 3. Fomentar la coeducaci??n para evitar discriminaci??n en funci??n del sexo. 4. Concienciar a los padres en la importancia de informar a sus hijos. El trabajo se realiza siguiendo, entre otros, de los siguientes apartados: un per??odo de confianza con los alumnos al objeto de suprimir el miedo y expresen sus preguntas en las clases correspondientes de educaci??n sexual; encuesta an??nima; encuesta a padres; reuni??n con padres; autorizaci??n paterna, todo ello durante dos meses. Una vez transcurrido este periodo se realizan una serie de actividades (diapositivas, debates, informaci??n detallada de los temas a tratar, vocabulario, murales, etc.). El trabajo expone los datos estad??sticos resultantes de la experiencia, las actividades pr??cticas, ejercicios, los modelos de encuestas utilizados as?? como las conclusiones y los objetivos conseguidos.

Hacia una educación no sexista : la discriminación sexual a lo largo de la historia y su incidencia en el contexto educativo.

La publicación presenta una sección de enlaces web recomendados y un glosario de términos para favorecer la comprensión de los contenidos. - Parte de la bibliografía está comentada

Regional flows of domestic tourism in Spain = Flujos regionales del turismo doméstico en España

The paper analyses the regional flows of domestic tourism that took place in Spain in year 2000, contributing to the state of knowledge on tourism required by authorities and private firms when faced with decision making, for example, for regional infrastructure planning. Although tourism is one of the main income-generating economic activities in Spain, domestic tourism has received little attention in the literature compared to inbound tourism. The paper uses among others, gravitational model tools and concentration indices, to analyse regional concentration of both domestic demand and supply; tourism flows among regions, and the causes that may explain the observed flows and attractiveness between regions. Among the most remarkable results are the high regional concentration of demand and supply, and the role of population and regional income as explanatory variables. Also remarkable are the attractiveness of own region and neighbour ones, and that domestic tourism may be acting as a regional income redistributing activity

La Diversitat ignorada: escola i diversitat sexual

Tot i que el sistema educatiu actual promou la possibilitat que es parli de diversitat sexual a l'aula, a la practica continua el silenci. Aquest article pretén constatar aquesta absència, tant el l'àmbit de les ciències de l'educació, com de la pròpia pràctica docent

La educación afectivo sexual en la etapa infantil : un proceso de formación del profesorado.

a) Detectar las necesidades de formación del profesorado en relación a la Educación Afectivo-Sexual en Educación Infantil; b) Diseñar un programa de formación en base a las necesidades detectadas; c) Desarrollo de un programa de formación que abarque: conocimientos, sensibilización del profesorado en materia de Educación Sexual y adquisición de habilidades para orientar a padres y madres; d) Seguimiento del programa de formación. El trabajo se encuentra dividido en tres fases: una primera fase en donde se realiza una revisión teórica de los antecedentes y los fundamentos que sirven de base al estudio, así como el estudio exploratorio y el diseño del programa de formación. En la segunda fase es donde se materializa el proceso de formación, recolección y análisis de los datos y que se divide, a su vez, en cuatro etapas: a) La primera etapa se corresponde con el inicio del Programa de Formación en el que se expone la teoría necesaria para iniciar un trabajo en materia de Educación Afectivo Sexual; b) En la segunda etapa se incluyen actividades en donde se ponen en juego los conocimientos adquiridos en la etapa anterior; c) La tercera etapa está destinada a la preparación del profesorado para el trabajo con padres y madres, al tiempo que se les ofrece la información y herramientas necesarias que facilitan su labor educativa; d) La cuarta etapa está destinada al seguimiento del profesorado que ha realizado el proceso de formación y el desarrollo del trabajo en materia de Educación Afectivo Sexual. Finalmente, en la tercera fase se expone el análisis y valoración final de los resultados, para llegar a la propuesta de conclusiones y recomendaciones. Para conocer el estado de la situación en cuanto a la Educación Sexual en la Etapa de Infantil de Asturias se diseña una entrevista exploratoria (entrevista estructurada abierta) que se aplica a los 9 Coordinadores de la etapa de Educación Infantil de los CPRs asturianos. Se elabora un cuestionario de 25 ítems destinado al diagnóstico inicial, que es aplicado a 8 profesores que participan en el curso de formación que se plantea. Se realiza una entrevista en grupo el primer día de encuentro con los participantes en el curso de formación, entrevista estructurada no presencuencializada que permite alterar las secuencias de las preguntas según la dinámica de la entrevista. También se elabora un cuestionario final compuesto por 17 ítems que es aplicado a los 8 profesores que desarrollan el curso de formación. Otras estrategias utilizadas en la recogida de información han sido: el vagabundeo (medio informal que permite familiarizarse con los participantes), hoja de valoración del curso, entrevistas individuales no estructuradas y no dirigidas. a) El profesorado desconoce el papel que ejerce de manera incidental en su trabajo diario pero, cuando el profesorado recibe la información necesaria, reflexiona sobre la función que desempeña y se ve impulsado al trabajo y la lucha para que la Educación Sexual sea una realidad en su aula y su centro educativo; b) Existen temores injustificados en los asesores para proponer cursos de formación en Educación Sexual en la etapa de Educación Infantil; reticencias en el profesorado para trabajar en materia de Educación Sexual con padres y madres; reticencias en el profesorado y algunas directoras ante la escasa participación de padres y madres a las charlas que se convoquen; c) Existe interés por parte del profesorado para formarse en Educación Sexual, el profesorado puede enfrentarse a padres y madres de manera satisfactoria; d) Los padres y las madres son los primeros interesados en recibir información en materia de Educación Sexual; e) El éxito del Programa de Formación realizado se debe al esfuerzo continuo por adaptarse a las necesidades que surgen durante el proceso de formación; f) La preparación del profesorado a partir de un programa de formación que está dirigido a desarrollar un trabajo de manera transversal se mantiene; g) Como resultado de este tipo de programas el alumnado es el primer beneficiario y después los padres y madres con la información que el profesorado les aporta; h) La Educación Sexual de la Etapa Infantil ha sido olvidada, a pesar de ser incluida en los contenidos de la LOGSE; i) Un trabajo integral entre padres-madres, profesorado y personal directivo ofrece razones para advertir que el modelo integral en el que se basa este estudio no será realmente integral si no se incluye el derecho que tienen los niños y niñas de vivir su propia sexualidad.