Comparing the Effectiveness of the Culture-Sensitive Integrated Model and the Cognitive-Behavioral Model on Sexual Function and Quality of the Marital Relationship of Women with Sexual Interest /Arousal Disorder

Female Sexual Interest-Arousal Disorder is one of the most common sexual problems in women and a multifactorial disorder. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the newly developed treatment of female sexual interest-arousal disorder and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on sexual function and the quality of the marital relationship of women with female sexual interest-arousal disorder. The research method was experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included women with female sexual interest-arousal disorder referred to counseling centers in Isfahan, from which 45 people were selected by purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups (15 people in each group). Subjects of all three groups were evaluated in the pre-test stage with scales. Then the experimental groups underwent an 8-session weekly intervention and the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end of the intervention sessions, the members of all three groups were re-evaluated with research tools. The female Sexual Function Index Scale (Isidori, Pozza, Esposito, Giugliano, Morano, et al, 2010) and relationship Quality Scale(Chonody, Gabb, Killian &Dunk-West,2018)were the instruments in this study. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that both interventions affect therapeutic goals and the experimental groups witnessed positive changes in the post-test of sexual function and quality of marital relationship compared to the control group. Regarding the competitive validation of the interventions, the results showed that in the sexual function, the effectiveness is more in favor of the psychotherapy protocol of female sexual interest-arousal disorder (P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed between the two interventions in the quality of the marital relationship(P>0.05). Conclusion According to these results, it can be said that the psychotherapy protocol for the female sexual interest-arousal disorder has the necessary effectiveness in modulating the symptoms of this disorder and can be used as a suitable treatment option along with other psychotherapy models for this disorder.