Successful Sexual Aging – A Longitudinal Mixed Method Dyadic Study (HEALTHSEXAGE, 2024-2027)
An increasing number of people across the Western world are living into old age and placing a higher value on sexual health than previous generations. The existing literature on sexuality and aging, however, is limited by: (a) a lack of conceptual clarity about sexual well-being in older adults; (b) absence of dyadic assessments; (c) absence of prospective explorations; and (d) paucity of mixed method approaches to the process of sexual aging. Our interdisciplinary research project aims to fill these knowledge gaps by introducing a novel conceptual model – successful sexual aging (SSA) – that builds on the Successful Aging and Selective Optimization with Compensation models. To provide evidence-based understanding of the processes underlying SSA and factors that may impede it, we use robust methodology – longitudinal dyadic assessment and a mixed method analytical approach. The project will use quantitative and qualitative data to: (1) explore core elements of successful sexual aging (SSA); (2) describe changes in SSA and its correlates; (3) assess the role of social connectedness; (4) address possible gender-specificity of SSA; and (5) establish a role of personal and couple sexual history in the dynamics of SSA. The qualitative arm will entail 35-50 interviews with older couples in the second project year. These dyads will be a subset of a longitudinal panel (350-400 couples) that will be surveyed on three occasions, roughly 12 months apart (the quantitative study arm). Online surveying, which was successfully piloted in 2020, will be applied.
The proposed research project will provide a unique contribution to the literature on sexual aging. Its conceptual and empirical insights are expected to advance the understanding of aging and sexuality, inform social gerontology and sexual health experts, and guide adults’ sexuality education, sexual health interventions, and counseling in older couples.
THE HEALTHSEXAGE STUDY IS FUNDED BY THE CROATIAN SCIENCE FOUNDATION (GRANT NO. 5159)
