Associations of social support and sex life - the HeSSup Study

The present study characterized the associations of three sex life issues (importance of, satisfaction with, and ease in talking about sex life) with social support and reciprocity. We utilised survey data of working-aged men and women (n = 21,101) from the population-based random sample of the Health and Social Support (HeSSup) Study (40% response). The respondents with abundant social support considered sex life important, were satisfied with it, and found it easy to talk about sex life more often than those with less social support. Social support in sex life offered by one's own spouse/partner was important particularly to women, not available from the other sources to the same extent. Friends functioned as significant positive sources of support in sex life particularly among women, but relatives did not. Mutual reciprocity was associated with favourable perceptions of sex life. Persons lacking established primary social support should have easy access to services.