Decrease In Sexual Frequency Across America

After reading the following article, Dr Potts shared her thoughts on this research:

"American Adults Having Less Sex, Research Indicates.

The Washington Post (3/7, Bahrampour) reports that research published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior indicates that “overall, American adults are having less sex than they did a quarter century ago, with married people showing the most dramatic decline.” Investigators, “using 1989-2014 data from the General Social Survey...found that American adults have sex seven to nine fewer times per year than in the 1990s.” During that time, “the average person had sex 60 to 62 times a year, but in the early 2000s the frequency began to slip, and by 2014 it had declined to less than 53 times a year.”

TIME (3/7, Heid) reports that the decline “in frequency was even steeper for married couples who live together; they had sex 16 fewer times a year.” Also covering the story are the San Diego Union-Tribune (3/7, Sisson), Fortune (3/7, Entis), the New York Post (3/7, Miller), The Guardian (UK) (3/7, Davis), HealthDay (3/7, Preidt), and the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger (3/7, O'Brien)."

Dr Potts thoughts on this research:

What have I been telling couples since I began practicing in the early 1990's? Get the TV out of your bedroom- watch the news instead of making love?! Really?! Invest in baby sitters! Have a date night- EVERY week! How could this happen?! Well...Folks are exhausted, couples are trying to do it all, women still don't get the help they need at home, our iphones and computers are ever more distracting and in some cases extremely titillating... and the coddled self centered children we've created with mothers exhausting themselves as drivers and volunteers for too many extracurricular activities and fathers who seem to spend entire weekends trapped at children's sporting events!

The most important gift we give our children is a happy marriage. This begins with children learning that mommy is always FIRST in daddy's eyes and vice versa (or daddy/daddy, mommy/mommy). It is healthy that a child learn that they are the second most important thing, only next to her parents. Not second to mommy's or daddy's job or social status. It is important for all couples to first always be a couple, then a family. Being a family first, I believe, depletes the loving energy from the couple and ignores the true foundation of the family.

And this brings me to sex. While most of the time, women need emotional closeness to feel sexual, we often forget that men usually need sex in order to feel emotionally close. If opportunities for sex become less frequent and usurped too often by work, kids' activities, Facebook and streaming, both sides of this equation will suffer and a vicious cycle of non-communication will ensue. Sex is like the lubricant (pun intended) that keeps the machinery of the family unit running smoothly, and exercises the shock absorber's (again, pun intended) to help weather the inevitable potholes in life's bumpy road.

And wouldn't we all be happier and more relaxed if we made the effort to carve out this special time for each other (what a tremendous and valuable gift!) and nurtured this privileged intimate connection and glorious release?!