The Role of Alexithymia and Sexual Self-esteem in Prediction of Marital Stress and Marital Adjustment in Infertile Women

Objective: Considering the negative impact of infertility on the level of adjustment and stress in women, the aim of the present study was examining the role of sexual self-esteem and alexithymia in predicting marital stress and marital adjustment of infertile women. Methods: This study was a cross sectional study. The population consisted of all infertile women in Shiraz (N=70000). 400 women were selected through non-random and purposeful sampling method, and the final sample size consisted of 380 subjects. Applied instruments were short form of Sexual Self-Esteem Scale for women, Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Questionnaire, Stockholm-Tehran Marital Stress Scale, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and multivariate regression in the version 26 of SPSS software. Results: The results showed that there was significant negative relationships between sexual self-esteem and marital stress as well as alexithymia and marital adjustment (p<0/01). In addition, the positive relationships between sexual self-esteem and marital adjustment, and alexithymia and marital stress were significant (p<0/01). Also, the results of multiple regression demonstrated that alexithymia and sexual self-esteem can predict significantly marital stress and marital adjustment with the standard coefficient of 0.44 and 0.22, respectively.  Conclusion: Alexithymia and sexual self-esteem play important roles in predicting adjustment and stress levels of infertile women, respectively. Concludingly, difficulty in emotional awareness at first, and then low level of self-esteem in sexual function can decrease adjustment and increase stress in marital relationships.