Stress, sexual functioning, and marital satisfaction

Abstract

The relationship of stress to sexual functioning and marital satisfaction was investigated in 165 men and women, age 21–84, approximately half of whom were unemployed. Adults completed inventory measures of life experiences, hassles, marital satisfaction, and sexual functioning. Regression analysis showed that for men, unemployment was associated with difficulty attaining an erection. This effect increased significantly with age. Wives of unemployed men also reported greater erectile difficulties for their spouses than wives of employed men. This result was mediated by marital satisfaction: For women whose husbands were unemployed, marital satisfaction had a strong negative relationship to reported erectile difficulty. Contrary to expectations, hassles scores were positively related to sexual desire for both men and women. Although unemployment in women was not related to any sexual dysfunction, desired frequency of intercourse declined with age more sharply for women who were unemployed than for those who were employed. Results were interpreted with respect to the psychological significance of specific stressors.