The moderating role of body image perception in the relationship between attitudes toward sexuality in pregnancy and sexual distress

This study aimed to determine the moderating role of body image perception in the relationship between pregnant women’s attitudes toward sexuality and their sexual stress. Data collection tools included a “Personal Information Form,” “The Attitude Scale toward Sexuality during Pregnancy (ASTSDP),” “The Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (FSDS-R),” and “The Body Understanding Measure for Pregnancy Scale (BUMPS).” The results of the analysis indicated that the established model was statistically significant (R2= .06, F(4. 417) = 6.85, p < .001). In the model, “family type” (B = −2.88, p = .038), ASTSDP (B = −0.30, p = .001), and BUMPS (B = −0.22, p = .009) were found to have significant main effects on FSDS-R. Most importantly, supporting our hypothesis, the interaction effect between ASTSDP and BUMPS was found to be statistically significant (B = 0.0035, p = .0102). In pregnant women with low and moderate levels of body image dissatisfaction, positive attitudes toward sexuality were observed to significantly reduce sexual distress (respectively; B = −0.12, p < .001; B = −0.08, p < .001). The results indicated that positive attitudes toward sexuality significantly reduced sexual distress in pregnant women with low and moderate levels of body image dissatisfaction.