Journal List > Korean J Women Health Nurs > v.23(3) > 1089571

Kim and Yeo: Impact of Sexual Attitude and Marital Intimacy on Sexual Satisfaction in Pregnant Couples: An Application of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate actor and partner effects of sexual attitude and marital intimacy on sexual satisfaction in pregnant couples.

Methods

Data were collected from 176 pairs of the pregnant couples visiting for prenatal care at hospitals from June 18 to September 24, 2016. The collected data were analyzed by paired t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficients using SPSS 18.0 and interdependent effect (Actor-Partner Interdependence Model analysis) through AMOS 18.0.

Results

The sexual attitude and marital intimacy of the pregnant woman did not have a partner effect on the sexual satisfaction of her husband, respectively(β=.12, p=.141), (β=.01, p=.938). The sexual attitude of the husband had a partner effect on the sexual satisfaction of the pregnant woman (β=.13, p=.021), but the marital intimacy of the husband did not show a partner effect (β=.07, p=.202).

Conclusion

Study suggests that the sexual attitude and marital intimacy of pregnant couples should be considered as factors when developing an intervention to improve sexual satisfaction in couples. Moreover, pregnant couples should participate in intervention together because the sexual satisfaction has conceptual view of interdependence in two-person relationships.

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Figure 1.
Hypothetical model.
kjwhn-23-201f1.tif
Table 1.
Characteristics of Pregnant Couples (N=176 couples)
Characteristics Categories Pregnant woman Husband
n (%) n (%)
Age (year) <30 34 (19.3) 15 (8.5)
  30~34 105 (59.7) 85 (48.3)
  35~39 33 (18.8) 62 (35.2)
  ≥40 4 (2.3) 14 (8.0)
Education ≤High school 9 (5.1) 22 (12.5)
  ≥Junior college 167 (94.9) 154 (87.5)
Job No 68 (38.6) 1 (0.6)
  Yes 108 (61.4) 175 (99.4)
Type of family Nuclear 170 (96.6) -
  Extended 6 (3.4) -
Monthly income <200 12 (6.8) -
(10,000 won) 200~399 89 (50.6) -
  400~599 59 (33.5) -
  ≥600 16 (9.1) -
Gestational age (week)   22.0±5.7 -
Parity No 123 (69.9) -
  Yes 53 (30.1) -
Abortion No 145 (82.4) -
  Yes 31 (17.6) -
Sex education received No 133 (75.6) 137 (77.8)
  Yes 43 (24.4) 39 (21.6)

M±SD

Table 2.
Differences in Study Variables between Pregnant Couples (N=176 couples
Variables Pregnant woman Husband t p
M±SD M±SD
Sexual attitude 3.36±0.41 3.32±0.38 1.03 .305
Marital intimacy 3.46±0.44 3.52±0.31 -1.37 .171
Sexual satisfaction 3.43±0.47 3.62±0.34 -5.00 <.001
Table 3.
Relationships among Study Variables (N=176 couples)
Variables PW's sexual attitude PW's marital intimacy PW's sexual satisfaction H's sexual attitude H's marital intimacy H's sexual satisfaction
r r r r r r
PW's sexual attitude 1.00          
PW's marital intimacy .60∗∗∗ 1.00        
PW's sexual satisfaction .65∗∗∗ .63∗∗∗ 1.00      
H's sexual attitude .26∗∗ .36∗∗∗ .37∗∗∗ 1.00    
H's marital intimacy .03 .02 .10 .15∗ 1.00  
H's sexual satisfaction .20∗∗ .18∗ .26∗∗ .33∗∗∗ .36∗∗∗ 1.00
Skewness -.92 -.62 -.49 .25 -.35 -.33
Kurtosis .44 -.27 .73 -.66 -.31 -.12

PW=Pregnant woman; H=Husband; ∗p<.05, ∗∗p<.01, ∗∗∗p<.001.

Table 4.
Model Fit Indices of Hypothetical Model
Index x2 (p) df NC SRMR GFI NNFI CFI RMSEA
Model 1.097 (.295) 1 1.097 0.010 0.998 0.995 0.998 0.024
Criteria ≥.05   2~3 ≤.05 >.90 >.90 >.90 ≤.05

NC=Normed chisquare; SRMR=Standardized root mean square residual; GFI=Goodness of fit index; NNFI=Non Normed fit index; CFI=Comparative fit index; RMSEA=Root mean square error of approximation.

Table 5.
Impact of Pregnant Couple's Sex Attitude and Marital Intimacy on Pregnant Couple's Sexual Satisfaction (N=176 couples)
Variables Path B β SE CR p
Actor effect PW's sexual attitude → PW's sexual satisfaction .47 .41 0.07 6.31 <.001
  H's sexual attitude → H's sexual satisfaction .22 .25 0.06 3.47 <.001
  PW's marital intimacy → PW's sexual satisfaction .37 .34 0.07 5.08 <.001
  H's marital intimacy → H's sexual satisfaction .35 .32 0.07 4.77 <.001
Partner effect PW's sexual attitude → H's sexual satisfaction .10 .12 0.07 1.47 .141
  H's sexual attitude → PW's sexual satisfaction .16 .13 0.07 2.31 .021
  PW's marital intimacy → H's sexual satisfaction .01 .01 0.07 0.08 .938
  H's marital intimacy → PW's sexual satisfaction .10 .07 0.08 1.28 .202

PW=Pregnant woman; H=Husband.

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