Sexual Motives, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Midlife Different-Sex and Same-Sex Couples.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Within relationships, sexual motives and stress are independent determinants of psychological health, with notable gendered patterns. However, previous research largely focuses on young adults and different-sex couples. Both sexual motives and levels of stress may be uniquely important to psychological health in midlife, and in potentially different ways for same-sex and different-sex couples. This study examined how the associations between sexual motives, stress, and depressive symptoms differ for midlife men and women in same-sex and different-sex marriages.

Research design and methods

Using dyadic data from same-sex and different-sex midlife married couples (N = 830 individuals; 415 couples), we examined the associations of intrinsic (e.g., sex

SUBMITTER: Chai HW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9960013 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature