The young and the restless? Age as a moderator of the association between sexual desire and sexual distress in women.

The authors aimed to assess the degree to which age moderates the association between sexual desire and sexual distress in women. The authors combined 4 independent data sets that yielded a total sample of 771 women (M age = 27.76, SD age = 9.64) who had completed the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women and the Female Sexual Function Index. Desire interacted with age quadratically in predicting personal and relational sexual distress such that desire was more strongly associated with distress for younger women as compared with middle-aged and older women. Age is an important moderator of the association between sexual functioning and sexual distress in women. Research and clinical implications are discussed.