THE ROLE OF THE SELF-ESTEEM, PERCEIVED STRESS, ALEXITHYMIA AND COGNITIVE AVOIDANCE ON THE SEXUAL FUNCTION OF THE FERTILIZED AND UNFERTILIZED WOMEN

Fertility, childbirth and the healthy child at the center of many couples who started
living together and infertility can interfere prominent in people's lives or partner they create, and given
the high prevalence of infertility in the country, and the psychological effects Infertility on the
individual, family and community and interpersonal relationships, this study aimed to determine the role
of self-esteem, perceived stress, alexithymia and cognitive avoidance predict sexual function was fertile
and infertile women. Methods: This correlational study - descriptive on 60 infertile women and fertile
women attending clinics in Tehran on 94-95 half-year, the way was available.
Material & Methods: This correlation – descriptive study on 60 infertile women and fertile women
attending clinics in Tehran on 94-95 half-year, the way was available. To collect the data, Rosenberg's
Self-Esteem Scale, perceived stress [PSS], alexithymia Toronto 20 [FTAS], cognitive avoidance [CAQ],
sexual function [FSFI] and demographic characteristics were used. The data obtained using multiple
regression, multivariate analysis of variance and Pearson correlation analysis was performed. Analysis
Results: The results showed that there is correlation between Alexithymia, the self-esteem, difficulty in
description of feeling and thought with external orientation in (the subscale of Farsi version of the
Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (FTAS-20) and substitution of positive thought in the subscale of Coping
Strategies Questionnaire and sexual activities of in fertilized women. But Perceived Stress does not have
significant and effective role in prediction Of unfertilized women sexual function. And none of variables
are effective for fertilized women sexual function.
Conclusion: there is a significant difference between unfertilized and fertilized women sexual function.