Room 517-D | French Speaking Podium Session Monday, July 11, 2005 Time: 8:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Sexuality of the Aging Couple / Sexualité du couple vieillissant.
Ribes, Gerard*,1, 1 Universite Lumière Lyon 2, France
ABSTRACT- The international literature suggests that sexuality in ageing couples is not an issue to be ignored. Delbes (1997) showed that, for people over 60, living as a couple was key for maintaining sexuality. And a study carried out by Bergstrom-Walan et Nielson (1990) found that, for people aged 60 to 80 (male and female), sexuality remained central although its role decreased with age. Keil (1992) then suggested that this decrease may be strongly associated with sexual arousal disorders in men and women alike. Other authors such as Rienzo (1985) showed that physical factors (health), social taboos, marital status, knowledge of sexuality, self-esteem and attitudes towards sexuality were key factors for maintaining sexual activity. Individual life expectancy is responsible for an increase in mean life expectancy for couples; thus raising the issue of maintaining desire and couple satisfaction. In a French study, Delmes (2000) showed that during these last 2 decades sexual satisfaction increased for women over 50 while it remained unchanged for men. However, it has been largely documented that for the older people there was no correlation between couple satisfaction and sexual satisfaction. Conversely, couple satisfaction was needed for maintaining sexuality. Addressing the issue of ageing couples also means exploring relational mechanisms around sexuality. Ribes (2004) showed that in retired couples aged 60 to 70 having different activities acted as a contributing factor to desire. Larson (1986) had proved that, in couples over 70, partners had reported that the more time they spent with their partners the happier they were. He had ignored the sexual dimension of the issue. Indeed, Kernberg (1999) said that in those he defined as sound aged couples there was a kind of relational and sexual freeing with the experience of polymorphic and perverted child-like sexuality in sexual games. Social stereotypes seem to play a role in sexuality for the over 50 and the elderly. Butler survey (1991) found that, for the elderly, social depictions of sexuality was merely unthinkable. On the basis of his survey carried out in institutions, Story (1989) added that carers were particularly critical of their patients sexuality and it acted as a sexual inhibitor on the over 50. Although it has been largely documented, research on older couples sexuality turns out to be marginal. Besides sexual activity, as Abraham (2004), we will eventually raise the issue of libido in the aged couple and its role in the ageing individual.
Key words: aging couple, retired couple, couple satisfaction