Predictors of psychological well-being in a sample of women with vulval pain.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate factors that predicted mental health-related quality of life in a sample of Australian women with vulval pain.


METHODS
A convenience sample of Australian women with and without vulval pain completed a questionnaire containing a range of well-validated self-report measures. Questionnaires were returned by mail by 51 women with vulval pain aged between 19 and 68 years and 46 women without vulval pain aged between 21 and 65 years.


RESULTS
Women with vulval pain reported significantly worse levels of mental health-related quality of life than women without vulval pain. Thoughts about vulval conditions being serious conditions that had greatly affected the women's lives were more likely to lead to lower quality of life, and believing that vulval pain conditions were likely to have been caused by psychological factors such as stress or worry was also associated with reduced mental health-related quality of life. Adequate levels of social support and helpful emotion-focused coping strategies were positively related to quality of life among women with vulval pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Illness perceptions played an important role in the women's mental-health related quality of life. Appropriate psychosocial interventions targeting particular perceptions may improve quality of life.
Sargeant
Hilary A
HA
School of Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
O'Callaghan
Frances
F
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004414:Dyspareunia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D014845:Vulvar Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult