Table_1_Enhancing Psychological Sexual Health of People With Spinal Cord Injury and Their Partners in an Italian Unipolar Spinal Unit: A Pilot Data Study.DOCX

Like the slogan of the American Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine says, “No injury, no matter how serious, can take away your ability to have a relationship, experience love, and experience the attraction between two people.” However, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have to fight with their own and societal attitudes and stereotypes that limit sexuality to the physiological functions of genitalia, phallocentric primacy of sexual pleasure, and sexual attractiveness of perfect bodies. The scope of the present study is to evaluate the impacts of a psychoeducational intervention in a personal growth group on the sexual life of seven people with SCI and four of their partners particularly their sexual interest and satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. Due to the small samples size, nonparametric statistical tests were used to compare pre- and post-outcome measures for all participants: patients and the partners group. Possible effects of gender were also considered. The effectiveness of the psychoeducational intervention was clearly apparent, showing a high effect size in improving sexual interest and satisfaction, and the opportunity and ability to enjoy sexuality. A reduction of anxiety was also observed for all participants, although it may not have been related to the psychoeducational intervention. Moreover, the intervention significantly improved the opportunity and ability to enjoy sexuality for the partner and patient group. No effect was found on depression. This was the first initiative in Italy aiming to address the sexual life and not only to cure the sexual dysfunction of people with SCI. The positive, clear evidence of the validity of the Love & Life project’s intervention bodes well for new psychoeducational initiatives that in Italy meet the sexual needs of people with SCI and their partners, providing adequate education and psychological support, involving partners, and creating a space to talk among peers.

正如美国脊髓医学联盟的口号所言：“无论伤害多么严重，都无法剥夺你拥有关系、体验爱情以及感受人与人之间吸引的能力。”然而，脊髓损伤（SCI）患者不得不与个人和社会态度及对性进行生理功能局限、以阴茎为中心的性愉悦优先以及完美身体性吸引力的刻板印象作斗争。本研究旨在评估个人成长小组心理教育干预对七名SCI患者及其四位伴侣性生活的 影响，特别是他们的性兴趣和满意度、抑郁和焦虑。鉴于样本量较小，对参与者：患者及其伴侣组，采用了非参数统计测试来比较干预前后的结果测量：患者和伴侣组。同时，也考虑了性别可能产生的影响。心理教育干预的有效性显而易见，显示出在提高性兴趣和满意度，以及享受性爱的机会和能力方面具有显著效果。所有参与者焦虑水平也有所降低，尽管这可能并非与心理教育干预直接相关。此外，干预显著提高了伴侣和患者组享受性爱的机会和能力。对抑郁没有观察到任何影响。这是意大利首次旨在解决SCI患者的性生活问题，而不仅仅是为了治愈他们的性功能障碍。Love & Life项目干预措施的有效性和积极明确的证据预示着，在意大利，将有更多新的心理教育举措来满足SCI患者及其伴侣的性需求，提供充足的教育和心理支持，涉及伴侣，并创造一个同伴之间交流的空间。