Variable Sexual Satisfaction in Pregnancy: A Latent Profile Analysis of Pregnant Wives and Their Husbands

David B. Allsop, Chelom E. Leavitt, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Erin K. Holmes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although not all couples achieve high levels of sexual satisfaction during pregnancy, evidence of variability in couple sexual satisfaction during pregnancy indicates that sexual dissatisfaction in pregnancy does not apply to all. Subsequently, the current study examined whether a nationally representative U.S. sample of wives and husbands (N = 523 couples) fell into subgroups in terms of their sexual satisfaction during pregnancy and to what degree biopsychosocial factors distinguish potential subgroups. Latent profile analyses, adjusted for pregnancy-related biological factors, indicated that couples could be classified into two subsets–a larger subset of couples where wives and husbands were satisfied with sex overall (79%) and a smaller subset where wives and husbands were neutral about satisfaction with sex (21%). Lower depressive symptoms among wives was associated with a greater likelihood of being in the more satisfied subset over the less satisfied subset–the only significant group membership predictor among a variety of other factors. Implications include notions that couples and practitioners should consider women’s depressive symptoms throughout pregnancy in addition to the perinatal period, and that most U.S. newly married pregnant couples do well navigating sexual satisfaction challenges during pregnancy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)173-184
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Sex Research
Volume59
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • General Psychology
  • History and Philosophy of Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Variable Sexual Satisfaction in Pregnancy: A Latent Profile Analysis of Pregnant Wives and Their Husbands'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this