RESUMEN

This study aimed to determine the effect of counseling, based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory, on sexual self-efficacy and quality of sexual life. This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 96 newlywed women in Zanjan, Iran during 2015-2016. The participants were assigned to the control and intervention groups through block randomization. Six 90-minute counseling sessions were held weekly for participants in the intervention group. Questionnaires of sexual self-efficacy and quality of sexual life were completed before and 8 weeks after the end of intervention. No significant difference was observed between groups in sexual self-efficacy and quality of sexual life at baseline (p > .05). Using ANCOVA, the mean score for sexual self-efficacy in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group 8 weeks after the intervention ended (mean difference in scores = 9.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6 to 16.2; p = .007). However, no significant difference was observed in the quality of sexual life between the two groups (mean difference in mean score = 2.1; 95% CI -2.5 to 6.7; p = .365). Thus, counseling had a positive impact on sexual self-efficacy. However, the intervention had no significant impact on the quality of sexual life, which may be attributed to the short duration of follow-up.

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RESUMEN

The contextual amplification hypothesis posits that girls' early pubertal timing will predict anxiety and depression symptoms most strongly when early puberty occurs under adverse conditions. Research supporting this hypothesis has consistently linked early pubertal timing occurring in adverse contexts to symptoms during adolescence, but little is known about the link to adult symptoms. The present study examined the extent to which women's reports of early pubertal timing and childhood family adversity interact to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression during the first two years of marriage. Married women (N = 226) completed questionnaires within 7 months into their first marriage (Time 1) and approximately 19 months later (Time 2). Analyses indicated that at both Time 1 and 2, women's reports of earlier pubertal timing predicted anxiety symptoms only when women reported a history of greater childhood family adversity. Additional analyses indicated that the interaction of earlier pubertal timing and greater childhood family adversity predicted symptoms of traumatic intrusions and panic, but not social anxiety, at Time 1, and panic symptoms at Times 1 and 2. These findings expand our understanding of the relation of early pubertal timing to adult emotional health and the family conditions that moderate this relation.