Of course we’ve always known, anecdotally, or at least assumed, that nearly everyone masturbates, but data from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior confirms it: Nearly everyone masturbates regularly, and they do so throughout their lifetime, from adolescence through to at least their 70s. Among men, solo masturbation was more commonly reported than most partnered sexual behaviors for ages 14 through 24 and among those aged 50 years or older, with as much as 68.6 percent of men reporting solo masturbation during the past month. Among women, solo masturbation was reported by more than 40 percent of all women under 70 within the past year, and a greater proportion of those ages 14 to 17 reported lifetime solo masturbation compared with any other sexual behavior

via Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders: ’30 percent of our healthcare cost related to sexuality’ – National Sex & Relationships | Examiner.com.

the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB). Conducted by a team of researchers at The Center for Sexual Health Promotion based at Indiana University, with funding from Church & Dwight (the company that brings us, among other household products, Trojan condoms), the NSSHB represents the largest nationally representative survey of sexual behaviors conducted in the U.S. since 1994, and in many ways a significant leap in sophistication and specificity in terms of what we mean when we talk about sex.

via Largest Survey of American Sexual Behaviors Offers Snapshot of 21st Century American Sex.

The discrepancy with regard to masturbation is doubly problematic because masturbation, it turns out, is a particularly important predictor of sexual health and happiness for women, more so then for men. One of the best predictors of whether a woman will be able to achieve orgasm in her sexual relations is a history of masturbation in adolescence.

via The Masturbation Gap | Psychology Today.