Self-esteem , general and sexual self-concepts in blind people

Abstract

Background: People with visual disability have lower self-esteem and social skills than sighted people. Th is study was designed to describe self-esteem and general and sexual self-concepts in blind people. Materials and Methods: Th is was a cross-sectional study,conducted in the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2013-2014. In this study, 138 visually impaired people participated from Isfahan Province Welfare Organization and were interviewed for measuring of self-esteem and self-concept using Eysenck self-esteem and Rogers’ self-concept questionnaires. The correlation between above two variables was measured using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software by Pearson correlation test. Results: Mean [± standard deviation (SD)] age of patients was 30.9 ± 8years. Th e mean (±SD) of general self-concept score was 11 ± 5.83. Th e mean (±SD) of self-esteem score was 16.62 ± 2.85. Pearson correlation results showed a signifi cant positive correlation  between self-esteem and general self-concept (r = 0.19, P = 0.025). The
mean of sexual self-concept scores in fi ve subscales (sexual anxiety, sexual self-effi cacy, sexual self-esteem, sexual fear, and sexual
depression) were correspondingly 11 ± 4.41, 19.53 ± 4.53, 12.96 ± 4.19, 13.48 ± 1.76, and 5.38 ± 2.36. Self-esteem and self-concept had significant positive correlation with sexual anxiety (r = 0.49; P < 0.001) (r = –.23; P < 0.001) and sexual fear (r = 0.25; P = 0.003) (r = 0.18; P = 0.02) and negative correlation with sexual self-effi cacy (r = –0.26; P = 0.002) (r = –0.28; P = 0.001) and sexual-esteem (r = –0.34; P < 0.001) (r = –0.34; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Self-esteem and self-concept had signifi cant correlation with sexual anxiety and sexual fear; and negative correlation with sexual self-effi cacy and sexual-esteem.

Key words: Self-concept, self-esteem, sexual self-concept, visual impairment