Some of the psychosexual disorders discussed in the previous and following chapters are strongly linked to the crises of developing intimacy and sex-role identity. Depression or problems in school may herald budding sexual difficulties. However, the problems most likely to be brought to the clinician are sexual inadequacy and conflicts about one's sexual response. The sexual inadequacies frequently seen in this age group are male impotence and orgasmic dysfunction in the female. Men who feel overcome by or fearful of women subsequently develop anxieties about their sexual performance or prowess. As their levels of anxiety rise, attempts are made to consciously create an erection, which usually results in impotence. Until the initial fear-anxiety-impotence cycle is disrupted, the man may become progressively more dysfunctional.

Some of the psychosexual disorders discussed in the previous and following chapters are strongly linked to the crises of developing intimacy and sex-role identity. Depression or problems in school may herald budding sexual difficulties. However, the problems most likely to be brought to the clinician are sexual inadequacy and conflicts about one's sexual response. The sexual inadequacies frequently seen in this age group are male impotence and orgasmic dysfunction in the female. Men who feel overcome by or fearful of women subsequently develop anxieties about their sexual performance or prowess. As their levels of anxiety rise, attempts are made to consciously create an erection, which usually results in impotence. Until the initial fear-anxiety-impotence cycle is disrupted, the man may become progressively more dysfunctional.

In the context of marriage, both partners are faced with an adjustment to individual needs and desires of the spouse, largely stemming from sociocultural conditioning. Some mutual decisions about what variations in intercourse and sexual expression are acceptable must be encountered early in marriage. Guilt, hostility, and shame may become interwoven with sex unless each partner is aware of and respects the other's concerns. Early disappointments and frustrations may have disastrous consequences to the continuing sexual relationship if avenues of communication are blocked.

Adulthood

Psychosocial changes. Adulthood is that portion of the life cycle typically devoted to parenting and consolidation of the marital union. The tasks specific to this phase of the family life cycle are too numerous to be mentioned here, but they involve the beginning of a new life cycle for children of the marriage and usually end at the time the children leave home. Societal demands in this country have changed rapidly since the last decade. Recognition of the need for population control measures and the trend toward earlier marriages have provided many couples with a longer life-span together, without children. Recently some married couples have elected to be nonparents. In view of these new trends, the adulthood portion of the life cycle may offer new challenges and sources of pleasure unknown to previous generations.

The task critical to this age is the achievement of a feeling of generativity rather than stagnation or self-absorption. It is at this point that one asks: "What have I accomplished? What have I done with my life?" The common interest is the establishment and guidance of the next generation.

The capacity to give and receive heterosexual gratification in a stable relationship will probably prevail as a social task even in minority attempts at communal living and alternatives to marriage. A crucial component of the interpersonal relationship, whether marriage or an alternative, is, of course, the sexual relationship. It includes not only the physiologic aspects of sexuality discussed previously but the partner's concept of self as a sexual being and his or her sex role.

There are a number of potential adult crises that are linked to alteration of the concept of a "sexual self." Disfiguring surgery or trauma, illness that interferes with sexual function, and pregnancy all have in common the capability to change the way in which one sees his or her body and body competency and the way in which he or she meets the societal demands for sex role performance.

The influence of legislation and social conscience that created new opportunities for women in the marketplace cannot help but have reverberations in the lives of men. Conflicts about duality of role may plague those women maintaining careers and mothering children simultaneously. Men may find that their roles, as traditionally defined, no longer exist. As both sexes assume responsibilities previously labeled "male" or "female," there may initially be discomforts in sexual relationships.

Biologic changes. The process of aging, gradually underway since young adulthood, proceeds throughout the thirties and forties with only minimal overt changes. Maximum height is usually attained between the ages of 20 and 30 years. The frame may become slim or portly during this stage. Usually some wrinkling of the skin and graying of the hair appears. These changes may produce fear and concern in the adult who values a youthful image, and our society has developed a number of panaceas, ranging from wrinkle creams to hair dyes, to cope with them.

Sexual problems. There is probably no set of well-defined sexual problems common only to adults of childbearing families. However, a number of familial and social variables can influence the sexual relationship.

Pregnancy may be a source of stress in the sexual relationship if it imposes lengthy periods of sexual abstinence for both spouses and may disturb the woman's image of herself as a sexual being. Sexual desire may decrease for both partners. The birth of a child focuses the couple's attention on the infant and initially away from one another. The presence of children may greatly decrease privacy and consequently the opportunity for sexual gratification. However, mothers of school-aged children are probably at the peak of their sexual capacity. Demands placed on adults by their careers may physically or emotionally interfere with their sexual interest and activity and may "separate the sexes." The demands of growing children and adolescents for attention from the parents may be sufficient to minimize time for intimacy. On the other hand, having an adolescent in the family can free the parents to leave other children at home and spend some time alone.

Most of the sexual problems arising during this stage of the aging process are, again, attributable to disruption of communication patterns. Out of touch verbally and with one another's feelings, couples become incapable of communicating nonverbally, and the sexual relationship may be the arena for many problems.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Natural Male Enhancement company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2010 David Crawford of Best Male Enhancement This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.