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The Relationship between Attachment Styles and Self-Objectification with Sexual Arousal Disorder in Postmenopausal Women: The Mediating Role of Sexual Satisfaction

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Psychology, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

10.30476/smsj.2025.101859.1501

Abstract

Introduction: A common issue during menopause is the decline in sexual desire and arousal, which can diminish women’s quality of life. Such disorders may also lead to reduced sexual satisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of sexual satisfaction in the relationship between attachment styles and self-objectification with sexual desire/arousal disorder in postmenopausal women.
Methods: The applied, correlational-descriptive study was conducted in 2023. The statistical population consisted of all postmenopausal women with sexual desire/arousal disorders attending specialized sexual disorder clinics in Isfahan, Iran, for whom precise statistics were unavailable. A purposive sample of 250 postmenopausal women over 50 years old with a clinically confirmed diagnosis (via clinical psychologist interview and a score ≤3.3 on the female sexual function index) was selected. Participants completed Hazan and Shiver’s (1987) Attachment Style Questionnaire, Noll and Frederickson’s (1998) Self-Objectification Questionnaire, Larson et al.’s Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (1998), and Rosen et al.’s (2008) Female Sexual Function Index. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with partial least squares (PLS) software.
Results: The results indicated a significant direct effect of sexual satisfaction on sexual desire/arousal (t=7.45, β=0.446, P<0.001). Significant indirect effects were found for self-objectification (t=3.54, β=-0.11, P<0.05), secure attachment style (t=2.12, β=0.071, P<0.05), and ambivalent attachment style (t=4.11, β=-0.164, P<0.05) on sexual desire/arousal through sexual satisfaction. However, the indirect effect of avoidant attachment style via sexual satisfaction was not significant (t=0.931, β=0.03, P>0.05).
Conclusion: The findings suggested that sexual satisfaction could predict sexual desire/arousal disorder in postmenopausal women. Furthermore, secure and ambivalent styles, as well as self-objectification, could predict this disorder through the mediation of sexual satisfaction.

Keywords

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