Physical Pain and Psychosocial Predictors of Sexual Activity among Multicultural Older Women

Aims: To investigate the relationships between facets of sexual activity among ethnically diverse older women and indicators of their physical pain as well as their psychosocial wellbeing. Physical pain intensity, intimate relationships quality, non-medical psychological distress, and depressive symptomatology were examined as predictors of yearly frequency of interactional sexual activity with an intimate partner and of masturbation.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Psychology, California State University, Northridge, between September 2017 and December 2018.

Methodology: Thirty-four older women between 50 and 84 years (M = 65.85, SD = 7.75) were recruited. Participants were reasonably fluent in English, lived independently in the community, self-identified as heterosexual, and reported being in an intimate relationship at the time of data collection. A battery of self-report measures was administered by research assistants over two sessions, on average.

Results: Demographics, yearly frequency of interactional sexual activity and of masturbation, physical pain intensity, dyadic adjustment, non-medical distress, and depressive symptomatology were assessed and analyzed. An intercorrelational matrix was produced and two simultaneous multiple regressions were conducted. They revealed that dyadic adjustment was a significant and positive predictor of the yearly frequency of interactional sexual activity, holding all other predictors constant (b = 1.06, P = .02). Dyadic adjustment was not a significant predictor of yearly masturbation frequency (P = .55). Physical pain and psychological predictors were not related to yearly interactional sexual activity or masturbation frequency (Ps > .05).

Conclusion: Greater dyadic adjustment and associated feelings of satisfaction with an intimate relationship predict significantly higher yearly frequency of interactional sexual activity among older women. Additional research is necessary to corroborate the present findings and identify predictors of masturbation.