The Relationship between Vaginismus, Dysmenorrhea, Social support, and Tokophobia with Mediating Role of Childbirth Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Background and Objective: Tokophobia is a manifestation of severe anxiety that causes fear for women. As a result, women tend to avoid having children and pregnancy due to their fear of childbirth, despite their great interest in having children and the beauty of motherhood. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between Vaginismus, Dysmenorrhea, and social support and tokophobia through the mediation of childbirth self-efficacy. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all pregnant women referred to Taleghani Hospital. Out of the population, 146 pregnant women were selected as the research sample using the availability sampling technique. Research data were collected using the Tokophobia Questionnaire (2021), Multidimensional Vaginal Penetration Disorder Questionnaire (MVPDQ), Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and Lowe's Childbirth Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. The collected data were then analyzed using the Smart PLS software and statistical methods of correlation and path analysis. Findings: The results showed that there was a significant relationship between, vaginismus with child birth self-efficacy (B=0.341, t=4.145, p0. 05) . Conclusion: According to the fitting indices of the model, it can be concluded that the tokophobia model has an weak fit on the basis of vaginismus, dysmenorrhea, and social support and mediating role of child birth self-efficacy