| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| Factors influencing young adults' attitudes and knowledge of late-life sexuality among older women | | Author(s) | Rebecca S Allen, Kathryn N Petro, Laura L Phillips |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 13, no 2, March 2009 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis, March 2009 |
| Pages | pp 238-245 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Older women ; Sexual activity ; Attitude ; Young adults [20-25] ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Although sexuality is valued throughout the lifespan, older women's sexual expression can be influenced by physical, mental and social factors, including attitudes and stereotypes held by younger generations. By gaining an understanding of what influences negative attitudes toward sexuality and beliefs about sexual consent capacity, the stigma associated with sexuality in later life may be reduced. The authors used a vignette methodology in an online survey to examine older women's health and 606 young adults' (mean age 18.86, age range 17-36) general knowledge and attitudes toward ageing and sexuality, personal social behaviour, religious beliefs and perceived closeness with an older person in attitudes towards social behaviour and perceptions of older women's consent capacity. The health status of older women proved important in determining young adults' acceptance and perception of sexual consent capacity regarding late-life heterosexual, autoerotic and homosexual behaviours. Specifically, young adults expressed lower acceptance and more doubt regarding capacity to consent to sexual expression when the older woman was described as cognitively impaired. Additionally, young adults' personal attitudes toward late-life sexuality, but not knowledge, predicted acceptance toward sexual expression and belief in sexual consent capacity. Attention toward the influence of older women's cognitive health and young adults' attitudes toward late-life sexuality may prove beneficial in designing interventions to decrease the stigma associated with sexual activity in later life. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-090616210 A |
| Classmark | BD: BIU: DP: SD6: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|