Midlife adults who have divorced or never married represent a growing demographic in North America. Despite this fact, little research has examined the dating and sexual behaviours of these individuals. Research has instead focused on the dating and sexual lives of young adults, particularly undergraduate students. The current research program examined young (aged 18-24 years) and midlife (aged 35-54 years) single (or recently single) heterosexual North American adults’ typical first date scripts and their retrospective perceptions of their first date experiences. More specifically, Study 1 examined young and midlife adults’ typical first date scripts. Participants were asked to list at least 20 actions that a woman would typically perform on a first date with someone new, from the beginning of the date to its end, putting the actions in the order in which they would occur. Participants were then instructed to carry out the task a second time, focusing on the actions that a man would typically perform on a first date with someone new. Study 2 examined young and midlife adults’ retrospective accounts of their actual first date scripts, as well as their actual first date sexual behaviour. Participants were asked to list at least 20 actions that they performed on their most recent first date, from the beginning of the date to its end, putting them in the order in which they occurred. They were also asked to complete a revised Guttman scale of sexual behaviours, checking off from a list the behaviours that occurred on their most recent first date. Across both studies, analyses revealed three key patterns with respect to gender roles. First, contrary to expectations, young adults tended to be more traditional than midlife adults with respect to first dates. Second, midlife adult women tended to be less traditional than expected with respect to first dates. Lastly, in keeping with expectations, women were depicted as taking a passive role and men were depicted as taking a more active role in the scripts. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research follow.

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are some of the hallmark features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology. There is a knowledge gap on RRBs in adults with ASD because most of the research has focused on children and adolescents. The few studies conducted on adults with ASD have included conflicting results and variable information, especially regarding the developmental trajectories of RRBs. Therefore, this study was designed to address the lived experiences of RRBs in midlife adults with Asperger syndrome. This study was guided by the conceptual frameworks of Dunn's model of sensory processing, the 2-factor model of RRBs, and phenomenological theory. A phenomenological approach was used to conduct semistructured interviews in which 15 adults with Asperger syndrome sampled worldwide described their experiences. Participants also wrote narrative accounts. The data were analyzed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eight basic themes emerged from the data analysis regarding the importance of RRBs to adults with Asperger syndrome: (a) anxiety, (b) calming effect, (c) intense focus, (d) routines and rituals, (e) sensory sensitivity, (f) misinterpretation by others, (g) physical stereotypies, and (h) special interests. Findings associated with these themes showed that RRBs are used by adults with Asperger syndrome as a coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety. Treatment should focus on the elimination of the anxiety rather than the RRBs, which are just a symptom of the anxiety. The implications for positive social change include the emergence of new knowledge to promote an improvement in diagnosis, treatment, advocacy, and supportive services, thereby decreasing inequalities that exist for adults with ASD.