Communal motivation in couples coping with vulvodynia: Sexual distress mediates associations with pain, depression, and anxiety

Being motivated to meet a partner's sexual needs was associated with less pain and anxiety for women with vulvodynia, but when this motivation excluded a focus on one's own needs, there were detrimental consequences for women's pain and both partners' depressive symptoms. Interventions for improving women's pain and the psychological well-being of affected couples should target motivational factors and sexual distress.