New research presented in Boston at the Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA) 64th Annual Scientific Meeting on Sunday has drawn a direct link between the sex lives of those in their mid-to-late 60s and their level of happiness with their lives and their marriage.
According to a GSA press release announcing the findings, this conclusion is the result of a 2004 survey of 238 individuals over the age of 65. The data from that study was analyzed by Adrienne Jackson, an assistant professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)
Following her analysis, Jackson “discovered that frequency of sexual activity was a significant predictor of both general and marital happiness. The association even remained after accounting for factors such as age, gender, health status, and satisfaction with financial situation.”
The study found that only 40% of those who had not engaged in some form of sexual activity in the previous 12 months said that they were very happy with life in general, and 59% of them reported being very happy with the marriage. Conversely, 60% of those who had sex more than once again described themselves as very happy with their lives, and nearly 80% said they had very happy marriages.
“This study will help open the lines of communication and spark interest in developing ‘outside the box’ approaches to dealing with resolvable issues that limit or prevent older adults from participating in sexual activity,” Jackson said in a statement.
“Highlighting the relationship between sex and happiness will help us in developing and organizing specific sexual health interventions for this growing segment of our population,” she added.
The study comes after comments made by 73-year-old actress Jane Fonda, who according to Telegraph reporter Graeme Paton “attributed her youthful appearance to a continued healthy libido.”
It also follows previous research from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), which claimed that looked at women between the ages of 60 and 89 had a higher quality of life and were happier if they had an active sex life, Paton added.
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