Intimacy, commitment, and adaptation: Sexual relationships within long-term marriages

Abstract

While exploring the prioritization of sexual health as a quality-of-life issue for a sample of 69 participants (aged 31–92 years) living in the U.K., interesting findings emerged regarding sexual activity in the context of long-term marriage. This article takes these findings as its focus and discusses the importance and meaning of sexual relationships for 28 participants, aged 50–86 years, who have been married for a minimum of 20 years (mean length of marriage 43 years). Data were collected using in-depth interviews, and a thematic analysis was applied to identify key themes. The findings indicate that sexual activity remained an important component of long-term marriage despite the existence of factors that interfered with or prevented sex from taking place. Participants adapted to these barriers and reported little upheaval from them, which was attributed to the mutually supportive context created by long-term marriage. The views expressed by the participants are discussed in relation to future research and implications for practice.