Open AccessA Study on Sexual Unwellness in Old Age: Assessing a Cross-National Sample of Older Adults
Author(s) -
Sofia von Humboldt,
Sara Silva,
Isabel Leal
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
review of european studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1918-7181
pISSN - 1918-7173
DOI - 10.5539/res.v9n3p207
Subject(s) - affection , portuguese , psychology , perspective (graphical) , human sexuality , gerontology , population , sample (material) , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , demography , medicine , social psychology , sociology , gender studies , linguistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , computer science , chemistry , chromatography
Objectives: To analyze the contributors to Sexual Unwellness (SU) and to explore the latent constructs that can work as major determinants in SU for a cross-national older community-dwelling population.Methods: Study design: Complete data were available for 109 English and Portuguese older adults, aged between 65 and 87 years old (M=70.1, SD=5.99). Data was subjected to content analysis. Representation of the associations and latent constructs were analyzed by a Multiple Correspondence Analysis. A socio-demographic and health questionnaires were completed, assessing participants’ background information. Interviews were completed, focused on the contributors to SU.Results: The most frequent response of these participants was “lack of intimacy and affection” (25.1%) whereas “poor sexual health” was the least referred indicator of SU (11.2%). A two-dimension model formed by “poor affection, intimacy and sexual health”, and “poor general health and financial instability” was presented as a best-fit solution for English older adults. SU for Portuguese older adults were explained by a two-factor model: “daily hassles and health issues”, “poor intimacy and financial instability”.Conclusions: These outcomes uncovered the perspective of older adults concerning SU and the need of including these factors when considering the sexual well-being of older cross-national samples.