Sexual Distress and Marital Quality of Newlyweds: An Investigation of Sociodemographic Moderators

Abstract

Objective Drawing from the vulnerability–stress–adaptation model, we explored sexual distress as a lack of adaptive processes within marriage by assessing whether sociodemographic variables associated with stress moderated the association between sexual distress and marital quality. Background Sexual intimacy and marital quality are strongly linked, but it remains unclear what role sexual distress (distinct from low sexual satisfaction) plays in marital quality and whether this role differs across sociodemographic characteristics (race, socioeconomic status, premarital childbearing). Method Data are from in‐person and telephone interviews of 199 African American and 174 European American couples across their first 4 years of marriage. Dyadic multilevel modeling was used to analyze longitudinal associations between sexual distress and marital quality and to test whether these associations were moderated by race, socioeconomic status, and premarital childbearing, while controlling for joyful sex and pregnancy. Results Sexual distress and marital quality were bidirectionally linked. Sexual distress was a stronger predictor of marital quality for African American husbands compared with European American husbands. Socioeconomic status and premarital childbearing were not statistically significant moderators. Conclusion High sexual distress is distinct from low sexual satisfaction and may indicate insufficient adaptive processes for partners experiencing chronic stress. Social context and factors beyond marital processes may influence the role sexual intimacy plays in marital quality. Implications Findings contribute to practitioners' understanding of how sexual distress relates to marital quality in diverse newlywed couples.

Will you be happy for me? Associations between self-reported, perceived, and observed responses to positive events and sexual well-being in cohabiting couples

“…Yet, too much distance between partners to a point of feeling disconnected emotionally can be harmful to couples' sexual well-being (Perel, 2007;Schnarch, 2009). This is also consistent with studies demonstrating high correlations between dissatisfaction with the relationship and sexualityrelated negative affect (Blumenstock & Papp, 2017;McNulty et al, 2016).…”

Longitudinal associations between relational and sexual well‐being in couples transitioning to parenthood

“…These proposed links are supported by cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies with individuals and couples who are not in the transition to parenthood (Blumenstock & Papp, 2017; Joel et al, 2020). In new parents, cross‐sectional studies show that individuals and couples who report an overall more positive relationship in pregnancy or at postpartum also show better indices of sexual well‐being at that time‐point, with evidence of both individual and dyadic effects (Schlagintweit et al, 2016).…”