Tina M. Penhollow

Aging and Sexuality Tina M. Penhollow

The population growth rate for older adults has rapidly exceeded the growth rate of the United States population as a whole. Despite these demographic changes, there is a paucity of research that explores sexual health among older individuals. Sexuality has been described as a multidimensional and holistic phenomenon with biological, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social components. Few empirical studies have examined factors that affect older adults' experience of changes in sexuality and life quality on a multidimensional level. To more clearly understand aspects of sexual health among older adults, there is a need to examine components of sexuality from a biopsychosocial, or interrelated, perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of sociological, cultural, and psychological factors to further explain variance beyond biological changes that influence the potentialities of aging, sexual health, and overall quality of life. Data were collected using a mixed-mode approach to optimize participant response and coverage. Residents of a large active retirement community served as the study participants. Overall findings add to the existing body of literature on aging and sexuality. This book is addressed to scholars, professionals, practitioners, educators, counselors, therapists, students, and laypersons.