Room 519-A | French Presentations Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Time: 8:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Marital and sexual enhancement program for retired couples.
Trudel, Gilles1, 2, Boyer, Richard 2, Villeneuve, Vanessa*,1, Anderson, Anic*,2, Pilon, Geneviève, 1 Université du Québec à Montréal - Department of Psychology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada2 Centre de recherche Fernand Séguin, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
ABSTRACT- Elderly people live many years after retirement. It gives rise to numerous consequences for society as well as for individual themselves. Aging does not always constitute a "golden age" and many difficulties can be associated to this period of life: isolation, poverty, physical incapacity, overconsumption of medication, mental and physical health problems, etc. The transition from an active life to retirement is not an easy part of conjugal life and may be a stressful transition period for couples. In a matter of fact they have to learn how to live together in a more proximate way. They must redefine their roles. They have to learn how to manage their activities, face up the departure of their children and the end of their professional life. Physical and sexual changes associated to this period of life increase the difficulty to make these adaptations. Studies indicate that elderly divorce rate, even if the proportion is less than in young couples, is increasing. This higher rate of divorce and separation in older couples reflect the difficulties that can be associated to this period of life. Principal sources of insatisfaction have been mentioned: sexual activities, quality of time pass together, and communication (Herman, 1994). A sexual and marital life enhancement program for retired couples has been developed to prevent marital distress in aging couples. Cognitive-behavioral interventions are administered to group of 5 couples during 12 weeks (2 hours a week). The subjects (n = 82 couples), aged between 55 and 69 have been randomly assigned to the enhancement program group or to the waiting-list control group. Results of the following data variables will be presented. Dyadic adjustment has been measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976). Sexual general functioning and sexual satisfaction has been measured by the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (Derogatis, 1979). Others measures of sexual and marital functioning will also be presented. Questionnaires were administered before and after the treatment program or the waiting period. They were also administered at the three months and one year follow-up. Results obtained in 78 couples to these questionnaires and others non-mentioned indicate that our program is effective.
Key words: marital life, sexual life, aging, retirement, prevention