Data Sources for Sex over 65?

May 12, 2023 3:46 PM

I am taking a psychology course in Contemporary Aging for my masters. I am doing a report on senior sex and about the challenges and joys found in sex after 65. I have found good anecdotal information in Joan Prices books. I am looking for resources that include research results. Any suggestions?
posted by goalyeehah to Human Relations (5 answers total)

I am a librarian but I am not your librarian. There are undoubtedly some solid resources through your university library. Your university library might have a database called PsycInfo. You could try a keyword search like "sexual activity" (without quotes) and use the limiters to limit to ages 65 & up and 85 & up. If you know how to use the thesaurus and controlled vocabulary, you might try "Psychosexual Behavior " as your subject. I did this search and found a few results that might work:

Handbook for human sexuality counseling: A sex positive approach, Schubert, Angela M (Ed); Pope, Mark (Ed).  472 Pages. Alexandria, VA, US: American Counseling Association, 2023. This book has a chapter subtitled "Sexuality in Later Life."

"Sexuality and aging: Is it time for a new sexual revolution?" Curley, Christine M; Johnson, Blair T.  Social Science & Medicine; Oxford Vol. 301, (May 2022): 1.

"Sexual activity and physical tenderness in older adults: Cross-sectional prevalence and associated characteristics" Freak-Poli, Rosanne; Kirkman, Maggie; De Castro Lima, Gustavo; Direk, Nese; Franco, Oscar H; et al.  Journal of Sexual Medicine Vol. 14, Iss. 7, (Jul 2017): 918-927.

There's loads of work, but it's going to be easiest to find solid research if you navigate through your library website, especially in databases in your discipline. But you could start with a catalog search, too, if that's easier. If you're not sure how to do this, you can ping a librarian at your library. If I'm totally misfiring, let me know, and I can help you figure out a better path.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:14 PM on May 12, 2023

I just did a search for "geriatric sexuality" at pubmed and found hundreds of results. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
posted by OrangeDisk at 4:19 PM on May 12, 2023

The National Health and Social Life Survey surveyed people of all ages.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 4:21 PM on May 12, 2023

The Gerontological Society of America might be a good resource.

They publish several journals; I did a keyword search for "sexuality" across some titles and the results all look pretty promising for what you're describing?
posted by knotty knots at 8:59 PM on May 12, 2023

[Comment removed. Per the Ask Metafilter Guidelines, please just answer the Original Poster's question, thank you ]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:07 PM on May 13, 2023