Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
8-2022
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph. D.
Department
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Degree Program
Clinical Psychology, PhD
Committee Chair
Barbee, Anita P.
Committee Member
Salmon, Paul G.
Committee Member
Lewine, Richard
Committee Member
Zahorik, Pavel
Committee Member
Valentine, Jeffrey
Author's Keywords
sexuality; quality of life; aging; older adults
Abstract
Sex and intimacy are important components of quality of life (Syme, 2014). Previous research found a positive relation between quality of life and sexual satisfaction (Chao et al., 2011), but how this relation may or may not impact end-of-life plans was unexplored. This study explored if the relation between quality of life and sexual satisfaction determined if community-dwelling middle-aged or older adults in the US have or was willing to incorporate sexual health within their formal or informal end-oflife plan. Correlation analyses examined cross-sectional survey data. Findings revealed a statistically significant correlation between quality of life and sexual satisfaction, no correlation between quality of life and the outcome variables (i.e., SH_FEOLP, SH_IEOLP, WIL_FOR, WIL_INF), no relation between sexual satisfaction and SH_FEOLP or SH_IEOLP, and a negative statistically significant correlation between sexual satisfaction and WIL_FOR and WIL_INF. 2% of participant’s had included sexual health in their formal end-of-life plan (n=14) and 2% had included sexual health in their informal end-of-life plan (n=18). 24% of participants were willing to include sexual health in their formal end-of-life plan (n=179) and 21% were willing to include sexual health in their informal end-of-life plan (n=154). Although findings were not significant future research could explore the willingness to include sexual health within one’s endof- life plan as several participants were “neither willing nor unwilling” to include sexual health in their formal or informal end-of-life plan, 21% and 15% respectively. Further exploration of these participants may generate valuable discussion regarding the importance of sexual health as aging progresses. Keywords: sexuality, quality of life, aging, older adults
Recommended Citation
Dickens, Jacinta, "Quality of life and end-of-life plans: the inclusion of sexual health." (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3968.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/3968
