The demands and stresses of modern life are a more important factor than menopause in the decline in the quality and frequency of sexual activity among middle-aged women.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the University of Glasgow and UCL, analyzed the factors that influence changes in sexual satisfaction, function and frequency in middle-aged women and how women themselves explain the changes. .
The study combined survey data from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) and in-depth interviews with middle-aged women. The survey revealed that of more than 2,000 women between the ages of 40 and 59, one third had not had sex in the last month, but less than half of this proportion were not satisfied with their sex lives.
After accounting for a variety of interrelated factors, the survey showed that age and menopausal status were less important in determining levels of sexual satisfaction, function, and frequency than were relationship and lifestyle factors and mental health status. health .
Follow-up interviews with a sample of women confirmed the survey findings. Few linked their menopause to a decrease in the quality or frequency of sexual activity. What the survey failed to capture, and the women’s accounts vividly illustrated, was the heavy weight of pressures on women in midlife.
The women interviewed described their hectic schedules and the challenges of combining family, work, and social life. They discussed financial and relationship difficulties, worries about family members, the simultaneous demands of children and aging parents, both of whom need practical help and emotional support, and neither of which contributes much to reducing workload or stress. Dual care duties for children and parents were seen as a problem that the older generation had not experienced. Many women’s lives were so busy that they had little time or energy left to enjoy a regular and fulfilling sex life.
This research was published in the Journal of Sex Research.