Effectiveness of Sexual Skills Training with an Eclectic Approach for Improving Sexual Function in Iranian Women

Background: Having a proper sexual function is one of the most important factors in improving marital life quality and family relationships in married people. There are a few appropriate interventions for developing the quality of sexuality in the life of married women in Iran. Objectives: Thus, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of sexual skills training with an eclectic approach in sexual function in Iranian women. Methods: This study was a randomized single-blinded clinical trial conducted from April to September 2015 on 30 women referring to counseling centers of Yazd selected with the purposeful sampling method. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups of 15. The experimental group received sexual skills training in nine sessions of 90 min (two sessions per week) but the control group remained on the waiting list. The data were collected before the intervention and five weeks afterward using a demographic form and Female Sexual Function index (FSFI-19). We used SPSS-21 to analyze data by Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, chi-square test, t-test, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at the P = 0.05 level. Results: The results showed that sexual skills training with an eclectic approach significantly increased sexual function and its subscales such as sexual desire and stimulation compared to the control group (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in lubrication and orgasm subscales. Conclusions: It can be deduced that sexual skills training has an effective role in promoting sexual function in married women. Thus, this cost-effective therapy can be used to increase the sexual quality of women.