Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a chronic vulvovaginal pain condition affecting 8%-10% of women and is associated with negative sexual sequalae. Our randomized clinical trial comparing cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) to a medical intervention (lidocaine) found that both treatments improved affected women's pain and both affected women's and partners' sexual outcomes, with CBCT demonstrating more benefits (Bergeron et al., 2021). The goal of this study was to examine two putative mediators of CBCT's treatment effects: collaborative and negative sexual communication patterns (SCPs). Women with PVD and their partners were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of CBCT (N = 53) or lidocaine (N = 55). Outcome measures (sexual satisfaction, function, and distress) were collected at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up, and in-treatment measures of the mediators were taken at Weeks 1, 4, 8, and 12 of treatment. Results showed that affected women's reports of improving collaborative communication mediated the effect of CBCT, but not lidocaine, on post-treatment sexual satisfaction (women with PVD and partners), sexual function (women with PVD), and sexual distress (women with PVD). For partners, collaborative communication improved equally in both treatments. Given that there were no differences in negative SCPs between the CBCT and lidocaine conditions, it was not possible to examine negative communication as a potential mediator. From the perspective of women with PVD, CBCT helped couples communicate about their sexual problems in more collaborative ways, which was in turn beneficial for improving the sexual well-being of both members of the couple. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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性交流介导认知行为伴侣治疗结果：一项针对诱发性前庭痛的随机临床试验。

诱发性前庭痛 (PVD) 是一种慢性外阴阴道疼痛，影响 8%-10% 的女性，并与阴性性后遗症有关。我们比较认知行为伴侣疗法 (CBCT) 与医疗干预（利多卡因）的随机临床试验发现，这两种疗法都改善了受影响女性的疼痛，并影响了女性和伴侣的性结果，CBCT 显示出更多益处（Bergeron 等人，2021 ）。本研究的目的是检查 CBCT 治疗效果的两个假定介质：协作和消极的性交流模式 (SCP)。患有 PVD ​​的女性及其伴侣被随机分配到 12 周的 CBCT（N = 53）或利多卡因（N = 55）。在治疗前、治疗后和 6 个月的随访中收集结果测量值（性满意度、功能和痛苦），在治疗的第 1、4、8 和 12 周对介质进行治疗和治疗。结果表明，受影响的女性关于改善协作沟通的报告介导了 CBCT 而不是利多卡因对治疗后性满意度（患有 PVD ​​的女性和伴侣）、性功能（患有 PVD ​​的女性）和性困扰（患有 PVD ​​的女性）的影响. 对于合作伙伴来说，两种治疗方法的协作沟通同样得到改善。鉴于 CBCT 和利多卡因条件之间的负面 SCP 没有差异，因此不可能将负面沟通作为潜在的中介进行检查。从患有 PVD ​​的女性的角度来看，CBCT 帮助夫妻以更加协作的方式交流他们的性问题，这反过来有利于改善夫妻双方的性福祉。