Explaining Couples 'Experiences of Paraphilia and Its Impact on Couples' Relationships: A Qualitative Study

Background: Paraphilia can disrupt their marital relationship. The purpose of this study was to investigate couples 'experiences of paraphilia and its effect on couples' relationships. Methods: For this purpose, in a qualitative study, 7 individuals referring to Bonyani Family Health Counseling Center in Tehran with paraphilia were selected through purposeful sampling and were studied using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interviews lasted 60 to 90 minutes and were written word to word. The data were analyzed simultaneously by continuous comparative analysis of Strauss and Carbon. Results: The findings indicate that factors such as lack of communication skills, self-awareness and problem solving, as well as the influence of media on one's lifestyle, can be considered as underlying factors in the phenomenon of paraphilia. Emotional and sexual frustration factors such as lack of attention and affection by spouse, cold emotional couple, reluctance to have sex with spouse, and sexual diversity were identified as causal factors of paraphilia. Consequences of paraphilia in couples included a reluctance to have sex with a spouse, the failure to meet the expectations of the spouse, the cooling of emotional relationships and infidelity. Coping factors included belief norms and self-awareness skills. Conclusion: Based on the results and considering the underlying causal factors of paraphilia in couples, it is possible to develop educational programs such as teaching life skills to individuals and to free them from this problem.