Sex, Romance, and Relationships: AARP Survey of Midlife and Older Adults

Abstract

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.7 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP Viva, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. AcknowledgementsAARP would like to thank Knowledge Networks, and in particular, Joe Garrett and Rick Li, for their responsiveness, collaboration, and attention to quality in conducting this survey.Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D., writes columns on this topic for AARP's Web site, provided insights on content, questionnaire design, and analytical planning for this survey. AARP's online team sponsored the survey, and AARP Viva funded the Hispanic over-sample. The sponsorship team, which conceptualized and funded the survey, and also provided direction and feedback through numerous iterations of project development, includes Nataki

A Comparison of Actual and Perceived Sexual Risk Among Older Adults

“…The majority of aging sexual risk literature focuses solely on condom use, and shows that OA condom use rates are consistently low across gender, race, relationship status, and cohort (Fisher, 2010; Glaude-Hosch et al, 2015; Schick et al, 2010). Using National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) data, Schick and others (2010) examined condom use during the most recent sexual encounter among persons 50+ with multiple sexual partners (n = 203).…”

“…Older adult (OA) sexual health deserves attention, as sexual well-being is identified as important to OAs (Fisher, 2010), and sexually transmitted infection (STIs) rates have increased steadily. Approximately 11% of new HIV infections annually in the United States are among adults aged 50+ (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015).…”

Sexuality in Older Adults (65+)—An Overview of The Recent Literature, Part 2: Body Image and Sexual Satisfaction

“…DeLamater and Moorman (2007) found an association between attitudes about sexuality and the frequency of partnered sexual behavior. Research has also found that men are more likely than women to rate sex as important (Fisher, 2010). In a survey of 1,384 persons over age 45, negative attitudes toward sex were significant predictors of low sexual desire among men and women (DeLamater & Sill, 2005), and, apart from age, the effects of attitudes were larger than the effects of other predictors (e.g., illness, medication, having a sexual partner).…”

“…With the -new‖ generation of older adults, attitudes and beliefs about sex are becoming increasingly more liberal (Schmidt & Mattiesen, 2003;Slagsvold & Strand, 2005;Syme, 2014) and the vast majority of older adults perceive sex as critical for a good relationship and quality of life (Fisher, 2010). In a large Danish sample of adults more than 90% reported that their sex life was of great importance to them and among older adults an inability to maintain a sex life was perceived as a threat to health as great as -complete loss of hearing‖ and -treatment indicated hypertension‖ (Graugaard et al, 2012).…”

Long-Term Changes in Attitudes Toward Premarital Sex in the United States: Reexamining the Role of Cohort Replacement

“…We also controlled for several additional independent variables that have been included in previous studies of attitudes toward premarital sex (Brewster, Cooksey, Guilkey, & Rindfuss, 1998;Eyal & Kunkel, 2008;Fisher, 2010;Petersen & Donnenwerth, 1997;Petersen & Hyde, 2011;Singh, 1980;Smith, 1997Smith, , 2006Smith, , 2008Weinberg & Williams, 1980;Widmer, Treas, & Newcomb, 1998). We controlled for several sociodemographic characteristics, including sex (sex: female ¼ 1, male ¼ 0), race (binary variables for White [reference], Black, and other race), education (in years), log family income (in logged 1986 dollars), employed (currently employed ¼ 1, else ¼ 0), and being from the South (region: South ¼ 1, else ¼ 0).…”