BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1622872
This article is part of the Research TopicSexuality and Sexual DysfunctionsView all 9 articles
Silent Struggles: Help-Seeking Barriers for Sexual Difficulties Among Adults 50+ in Czechia
Provisionally accepted
Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska1,2*
Anna Ševčíková1
Klára Bártová3,4
Lucie Krejčová3
Lucie Kalenská3Renáta Androvičová3Petr Weiss3,5Kateřina Klapilová3,4,5- 1Psychology Research Institute, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
- 2Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- 3Center for Sexual Health and Interventions, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia
- 4Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
- 5Institute for Sexology, General Faculty Hospital, Prague, Czechia
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Although sexual problems become more common with age, older adults rarely seek professional help. Understanding why is key to supporting sexual health in aging populations. This study assessed the prevalence of sexual difficulties, help-seeking behavior, and reasons for not seeking help among Czech adults aged 50–75, using nationally representative data from the 2023/2024 CzechSex survey (n=2,927; 53% men). Logistic regression analyses examined the predictor role of sociodemographic factors, sexual activity frequency, sexual ageism, and distress over sexual problems on help-seeking. Lifetime sexual difficulties were reported by 59% of respondents, and 31% experienced them in the past 12 months. Among those with persistent issues, only 7.6% sought counselling or other professional help. Women were significantly more likely than men not to seek help (OR=1.64, 95% CI [1.04, 2.61], p<.05); lower distress was also associated with non-help-seeking (OR=0.68, 95% CI [0.54, 0.86], p<.001). The most common reasons for not seeking help were perceiving problems as not bothersome, followed by shame, embarrassment, and difficulty communicating (personal/emotional barriers). Systemic barriers (e.g., lack of services, long wait times) were rarely reported. Overall, help-seeking for sexual problems is uncommon in this age group, and personal barriers outweigh institutional ones, posing a challenge for effectively targeting no-help seekers and designing effective interventions.
Keywords: Sexual difficulties, help-seeking behavior, older adults, adults 50+, barriers to help seeking, National survey data, CzechSex
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 20 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gore-Gorszewska, Ševčíková, Bártová, Krejčová, Kalenská, Androvičová, Weiss and Klapilová. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska, Psychology Research Institute, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
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