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Emotional intimacy and sexual well-being in aging European couples: a cross-cultural mediation analysis

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Listed:
  • Aleksandar Štulhofer

    (University of Zagreb)

  • Tanja Jurin

    (University of Zagreb)

  • Cynthia Graham

    (University of Southampton)

  • Erick Janssen

    (University of Leuven)

  • Bente Træen

    (University of Oslo)

Abstract

Sexual health research tends to focus on problematic aspects of sexuality. This also applies to research on sexuality in older men and women, where attention has been primarily on the negative impact of aging. To contribute to the emerging interest in positive (successful) sexual aging, we aimed to: (1) further validate a recently developed 5-dimensional measure of sexual well-being (Štulhofer et al. in J Happiness Stud, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0049-1) and (2) explore the structure of associations among emotional intimacy, frequency of sexual intercourse, and sexual well-being in older European couples. Using data from a 2016 community-based survey of 218 Norwegian, 207 Danish, 135 Belgian, and 117 Portuguese couples aged 60–75 years, we applied actor–partner interdependence structural modeling approach to confirm the validity of the sexual well-being measure in couples and explore a path analytic model in which the frequency of sexual intercourse was hypothesized to mediate the association between emotional intimacy and sexual well-being. Although we observed consistent and significant actor effects, with emotional intimacy and frequency of sexual intercourse predicting both male and female partners’ sexual well-being across countries, the proposed mediation was observed only in Norwegian and Portuguese men and Norwegian and Belgian women. Partner effects were gender-specific; male partner’s emotional intimacy was related to his female partner’s reported frequency of sex and sexual well-being but not the other way around. Apart from being one of the few cross-cultural assessments of successful sexual aging, this study’s findings support the use of a new sexual well-being measure in research on older adults’ sexuality.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksandar Štulhofer & Tanja Jurin & Cynthia Graham & Erick Janssen & Bente Træen, 2020. "Emotional intimacy and sexual well-being in aging European couples: a cross-cultural mediation analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 43-54, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:17:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-019-00509-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-019-00509-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Linda J. Waite & Edward O. Laumann & Aniruddha Das & L. Philip Schumm, 2009. "Sexuality: Measures of Partnerships, Practices, Attitudes, and Problems in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(suppl_1), pages 56-66.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Casu & Mónica Guzmán-González & Ricardo Espinoza-Tapia & Lusmenia Garrido-Rojas & Jaime Barrientos & Fabiola Gómez, 2021. "Dyadic Invariance of the Positive Sexuality Scale in Chilean Heterosexual Couples," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-6, January.
    2. Krzysztof Nowosielski, 2022. "Predictors of Sexual Function and Performance in Young- and Middle-Old Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-12, April.

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