Psychological Factors and the Sexuality of Pregnant and Postpartum Women

Table 1. Means, Score Ranges and Standard Deviations of Variables

Variable	Mean	Standard Deviation	Range
Sexual desire
Baseline	35.06	8.16	12-55
Pregnancy	27.96	12.57	0-62
12 weeks postpartum	25.85	11.39	0-56
6 months postpartum	27.39	11.77	2-46
Frequency of sexual intercourse
Baseline	4.38	.91	1-6
Pregnancy	3.28	1.29	0-6
12 weeks postpartum	3.65	.78	1-5
6 months postpartum	3.97	.93	2-6
Sexual satisfaction
Baseline	32.05	5.70	17-45
Pregnancy	29.19	6.64	12-45
12 weeks postpartum	30.09	6.50	11-43
6 months postpartum	29.56	7.13	16-42
Relationship satisfaction
Baseline	33.16	5.31	19-45
Pregnancy	34.14	5.77	16-45
12 weeks postpartum	31.65	6.13	5-42
6 months postpartum	31.94	6.75	11-43
Work-role
Pregnancy	1.21	.81	-.90-2.63
12 weeks postpartum	1.47	.74	.42-2.68
6 months postpartum	1.35	1.03	-1.00-2.74
Mother role
Pregnancy	1.22	.69	-40-2.70
12 weeks postpartum	1.90	.68	-.45-3.00
6 months postpartum	1.94	.73	-.40-2.90
Depression
Pregnancy	7.94	4.26	0-19
12 weeks postpartum	6.92	4.24	0-18
6 months postpartum	6.29	4.50	0-23
Fatigue
Pregnancy	29.06	4.31	21-42
12 weeks postpartum	26.10	5.45	11-39
6 months postpartum	25.44	5.21	15-37

Table 2. Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Sexual Variables

	Sexual Desire		Frequency of Sexual Intercourse
Predictor	Beta	[R.sup.2]	Beta	[R.sup.2]
		During pregnancy
Fatigue	-.05	.08	-.31 **	.10 *
Depression	-.09		.21 *
Relationship satisfaction	.09		.14
Work-role	.03		.04
Mother-role	.15		-.07
		At 12 weeks postpartum
Fatigue	-.25 *	.22 **	-.10	.13 *
Depression	.16		-.30 *
Relationship
satisfaction	.32 **		.18
Mother-role	.17		-.01
		At 6 months postpartum
Fatigue	-.10	.31 ***	.03	.16 *
Depression	.39 **		.23 *
Relationship satisfaction	.34 **		.17
Mother-role	.39 **		.40 *
	Sexual satisfaction
Predictor	Beta	[R.sup.2]
	During pregnancy
Fatigue	-.14	.21 ***
Depression	-.11
Relationship satisfaction	.29 **
Work-role	.07
Mother-role	.05
		At 12 weeks postpartum
Fatigue	-.39 **	.30 ***
Depression	.08
Relationship satisfaction	.20
Mother-role	.16
		At 12 months postpartum
Fatigue	-.13	.33 ***
Depression	.24
Relationship satisfaction	.23
Mother-role	.46 **
* p < .05. p < .01. * p < .001.

Last reviewed: 11/05