Abstract

Objective: To examine the mediating role of body image concern between obesity and sexual satisfaction and to test the invariance across health status.
Methodology: A Sample of 307 married women was collected through a purposive sampling with the age range of 20-50 years. They were divided into women with PCOS (n=141) and normal women (n=166). We used Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women and Body Image Concern Inventory to measure sexual satisfaction and body perception, respectively. The BMI was categorized into three groups as normal weight (18.5 to 24.99), over weight (25 to 29.99) and obese (> 30).
Results: The structural model of sexual satisfaction revealed a significant mediating role of body image concern between obesity and sexual satisfaction. This model was also tested across health status, which was variant.
Conclusion: BMI negatively influenced the body image of women which in turn lead to a low level of sexual satisfaction. Married women diagnosed with PCOS were less sexually satisfied due to their weight and high body image concern as compared to normal married women.

Key words: Body mass index, body image concern, sexual satisfaction, invariance.