Schafer Markus H, Upenieks Laura
Department of Sociology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA.
Gerontologist. 2023 Feb 25;63(2):240-250. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac071.
Expectations across a variety of life domains appear to shape the aging process, giving weight to the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in later life. Sexuality is one area where the power of expectations is not well-understood. We investigated whether 10-year sexual expectations were associated with sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency a decade on among older heterosexual coupled adults. We further examined whether sexual expectations could offset the sex-constraining impact of functional limitation onset.
We used 3 waves of the Midlife Development in the United States study (1995, 2005, 2014), a nationally representative panel survey. Analyses consider adults aged 45+ in 1995 who had a spouse or romantic partner at 2 consecutive waves. Associations between sexual expectations and eventual sexual satisfaction and frequency were estimated with multivariable generalized estimating equations. Moderation analyses examined whether between-wave onset of functional limitations had less influence on sexuality outcomes when combined with a high initial level of sexual expectations.
Sexually optimistic participants reported more sexual satisfaction and higher sexual frequency a decade later. Though the onset of functional limitations tended to suppress sexual frequency for women, the probability of having weekly sex was significantly higher among such women if they had high rather than low sexual expectations.
Results suggest that, similar to other life domains, expectations shape the sexual experience of older adults. Clinicians and care providers may consider ways to help foster realistic optimism about sexuality among older men and women.
各个生活领域的期望似乎会塑造衰老过程，凸显了自我实现预言在晚年生活中的作用。性是一个人们对期望的影响力了解不足的领域。我们调查了10年的性期望是否与10年后老年异性恋伴侣成年人的性满意度和性行为频率相关。我们还进一步研究了性期望是否能够抵消功能受限发作对性的限制影响。
我们使用了美国中年发展研究的三轮调查（1995年、2005年、2014年），这是一项具有全国代表性的面板调查。分析对象为1995年年龄在45岁及以上且连续两轮都有配偶或浪漫伴侣的成年人。使用多变量广义估计方程来估计性期望与最终性满意度和性行为频率之间的关联。调节分析考察了功能受限在两轮调查之间发作时，与较高的初始性期望相结合是否对性结果的影响较小。
性观念乐观的参与者在十年后报告了更高的性满意度和性行为频率。虽然功能受限的发作往往会抑制女性的性行为频率，但对于此类女性，如果她们的性期望较高而非较低，每周进行性行为的可能性会显著更高。
结果表明，与其他生活领域类似，期望塑造了老年人的性体验。临床医生和护理人员可以考虑采取一些方法，帮助老年男性和女性培养对性的现实乐观态度。
