Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Feb;10(2):378-85.
doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02969.x. Epub 2012 Oct 22.

The impact of parental bonding on sexual distress in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Alexandra Bargiota  1 , Konstantinos Dimitropoulos, Odysseas Mouzas, Michael Melekos, Vassilios Tzortzis, Georgios Koukoulis
Affiliations

The impact of parental bonding on sexual distress in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Alexandra Bargiota et al. J Sex Med. 2013 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: Psychosomatic and social issues have been found to be determinants of sexual distress in diabetic and non-diabetic populations. However, the role of parental bonding as a determinant for sexual distress has not been studied in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM-1).

Aim: To study the role of parental care and overprotection, in the pathogenesis of sexual distress in women with DM-1.

Methods: Seventy-seven women with uncomplicated DM-1 and 77 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), the General Health Questionnaire-28, and the Parental Bonding Instrument were used to evaluate sexual distress, general health and bonding with parents, respectively.

Main outcome measures: To assess the role of parental bonding as risk factor for sexual distress, in women with DM-1.

Results: Women with DM-1 had significantly higher FSDS scores compared with controls. Furthermore, women with DM-1 had significantly higher maternal and paternal care, and lower maternal overprotection in comparison with the healthy ones. Paternal overprotection and general health were similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Sexual distress was more frequent in women with DM-1 (31.43% vs. 8.57% of controls, P < 0.05). Diabetic women with sexual distress had lower maternal care, higher maternal overprotection and lower paternal overprotection compared to diabetics without sexual distress (P < 0.05). No difference was found in the paternal care between the two groups (P > 0.05). Moreover, sexually distressed DM-1 women had worse general health parameters in comparison with the non-sexually distressed diabetics (P < 0.05). In the DM-1 group, low maternal care and low paternal overprotection were significant risk factors for sexual distress (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Parental care and overprotection can lead to sexual distress and, therefore, to Female Sexual Dysfunction in DM-1 women. Evaluation of parental bonding is necessary in DM-1 women with distressing sexual problems.

PubMed Disclaimer