Marriage, Stress and Menopause: Midlife Challenges and Joys

 

Katherine Vaughn Fielder^[1] Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius^[2]

 

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship of two contextual variables (the marital relationship and stress) with the experience of menopause for 224 married midlife women. These women completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Quality of Relationship Inventory, the Women’s Health Questionnaire, the Index of Sexual Satisfaction, and the Life Events Questionnaire for Middle­‑Aged Women. Marital quality, marital satisfaction, and stress predicted menopausal symptomatology. Women in dissatisfying marriages, characterized by less social support, less depth, and higher conflict, reported increased stress and more menopausal symptomatology than did women in satisfying marriages. Sexual satisfaction was positively related to marital satisfaction. No differences were found due to menopausal stage. These findings suggest that relationship variables may override menopausal status in importance as midlife women move through the menopausal transition.

Key words: women, menopause symptomatology, marital quality, stress.

 

Casamento, stress e menopausa: Desafios e prazeres da meia­‑idade

Resumo: Este estudo investigou a relação de duas variáveis contextuais (a relação conjugal e o stress) com a experiência de menopausa em 224 mulheres de meia­‑idade, casadas. As mulheres responderam à Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Quality of Relationship Inventory, Women’s Health Questionnaire, Index of Sexual Satisfaction e Life Events Questionnaire for Middle­‑Aged Women. A qualidade conjugal, a satisfação conjugal e o stress permitiram prever a sintomatologia menopáusica. As mulheres com casamentos insatisfatórios, caracterizados por menos suporte social, menor profundidade e maior conflito, referiram um aumento de stress e mais sintomatologia menopáusica do que as mulheres com casamentos satisfatórios. A satisfação sexual está positivamente relacionada com a satisfação conjugal. Não se encontraram diferenças devidas ao estatuto de menopausa. Estes resultados sugerem que quando as mulheres atravessam a transição da menopausa, as variáveis relacionais podem ultrapassar em importância o estatuto de menopausa.

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

References

Abernethy, K. (1997). The menopause. In G. Andrews (Ed.), Women’s Sexual Health (pp. 336­‑364). London: Bailliere Tindall.        [ Links ]

Ballinger, S. (1983). Stress and the menopause: A study of the interactions of psycho­social stress and oestrogen status in the post­‑menopause. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Sydney, Australia.

Cawood, E. H., & Bancroft, J. (1996). Steroid hormones, the menopause, sexuality and well­‑being of women. Psychological Medicine, 26, 925­‑936.

Channon, L. D., & Ballinger, S. E. (1986). Some aspects of sexuality and vaginal symptoms during menopause and their relation to anxiety and depression. Journal of Medical Psychology, 59, 173­‑180.

Conger, R. D., Rueter, M. A., & Elder, G. H. (1999). Couple resilience to economic pressure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 54­‑71.

Cooke, D. J., & Greene, J. G. (1981). Types of life events in relations to symptoms at the climacterium. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 25, 5­‑11.

Craddock, A. E. (1996). Relationship resources as buffers against the impact of stress: A longitudinal study of seminary students and their partners. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 24, 38­‑46.

Engel, N. S. (1987). Menopausal stage, current life change, attitude toward women’s roles, and perceived health status. Nursing Research, 36, 353­‑357.

Fielder, K. V. (1998). Adjustment to breast cancer at midlife: Relationship satisfaction, body image, and menopausal symptomatology. Unpublished master’s thesis, Arizona State University, Tempe.

Franks, M. M., & Stephens, P. A. (1992). Multiple roles of middle­‑generation caregivers: Contextual effects and psychological mechanisms. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 47, 123­‑129.

Friedemann, M., & Webb, A. A. (1995). Family health and mental health six years after economic stress and unemployment. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 16, 51­‑66.

Gove, W. R., Briggs­‑Style, C. B., & Hughes, M. (1990). The effect of marriage on the well­‑being of adults. Journal of Family Issues, 11, 4­‑35.

Gove, W. R., Hughes, M., & Briggs­‑Style, C. B. (1983). Does marriage have positive effects on the psychological well being of the individual? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 122­‑131.

Greene, J. G., & Cooke, D. J. (1980). Life stress and symptoms at the climacterium. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 486­‑491.

Hibbard, J. H., & Pope, C. R. (1993). The quality of social roles as predictors of morbidity and mortality. Social Science and Medicine, 36, 217­‑225.

Hoskins, C. N., Baker, S., Sherman, D., Bohlander, J., Bookbinder, M., Budin, W., Ekstrom, D., Knauer, C., & Maislin, G. (1996). Social support and patterns of adjustment to breast cancer. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 10, 99­‑123.

Hudson, W. W., Harrison, D. F., & Crosscup, P. C. (1981). A short­‑form scale to measure sexual discord in dyadic relationships. Journal of Sex Research 17, 99­‑123.

Hunter, M. (1992). The south­‑east England longitudinal study of the climacteric and postmenopause. Maturitas, 14, 117­‑126.

Hunter, M., Battersby, R., & Whitehead, M. (1986). Relationships between psychological symptoms, somatic complaints and menopausal status. Maturitas, 8, 217­‑218.

Hurlbert, D. F., & Apt, C. (1994). Female sexual desire, response, and behavior. Behavior Modification, 18, 488­‑504.

Kaplan, H. S. (1979). Disorders of sexual desire and other new concepts and techniques in sex therapy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kaplan, H. S. (1992). A neglected issue: The sexual side effects of current treat­ments for breast cancer. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 18, 3­‑19.

Kiecolt­‑Glaser, J. K., Malarkey, W. B., Chee, M., Newton, T., Cacioppo, J. R., Mao, H., & Glaser, R. (1993). Negative behavior during marital conflict is associated with immunological down­‑regulation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 395­‑409.

Levenson, R. W., Carstensen, L. L., & Gottman, J. M. (1993). Long­‑term marriage: Age, gender, and satisfaction. Psychology and Aging, 8, 301­‑313.

Manne, S. L, & Zautra, A. J. (1989). Spouse criticism and support: Their association with coping and psychological adjustment among women with rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56 (4), 608­‑617.

Mansfield, P. K., Koch, P. B., & Voda, A. M. (1998). Qualities midlife women desire in their sexual relationships and their changing sexual response. Psychology of Women, 22, 285­‑303.

Maresh, S. E. (1998). Effects of 17­‑beta estradiol replacement therapy on bio­psychosocial factors among midlife women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.

Peterson, D. D., & Schmidt, R. M. (1999). Longitudinal and cross­‑sectional analysis of health watch data with a subset of perimenopausal women and matched controls. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 54 (4), 160­‑170.

Pierce, G. R., Sarason, I. G., & Sarason, B. R. (1992). General and relationship­‑based perceptions of social support: Are two constructs better than one? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61 (6), 1028­‑1039.

Quick, J. D., Nelson, D. L., Matuszek, P. A., Whittington, J. L., & Quick, J. C. (1996). Social support, secure attachments, and health. In C. L. Cooper (Ed.), Handbook of stress, medicine, and health (pp. 270­‑287). New York: CRC Press.

Robinson Kurpius, S. E., & Foley Nicpon, M. F. (2003). Menopause and midlife women. In M. Kopala & M. A. Keitel (Eds.), Handbook of counseling women (pp. 220­‑240). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Robinson Kurpius, S. E., Foley Nicpon, M. F., & Maresh, S. E. (2001). Mood, marriage, and menopause. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 77­‑84.

Roth­‑Roemer, S., & Robinson Kurpius, S. E. (1996). Beyond marital status: An examination of marital quality and well being among women with rheumatoid arthritis. Women’s Health: Research on Gender, Behavior, and Policy, 2, 195­‑205.

Saab, P. G., Matthew, K. A., Stoney, C. M., & McDonald, R. H. (1989). Premeno­pausal and postmenopausal women differ in their cardiovascular and neuro­endocrine responses to behavioral stressors. Psychophysiology, 26, 270­‑280.

Sansom, D., & Farnill, D. (1997). Stress following marriage breakdown: Does social support play a role? Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 26 (3/4), 39­‑49.

Schmoldt, R. A., Pope, C. R., & Hibbard, J. H. (1989). Marital interaction and the health and well­‑being of spouses. Women & Health, 15, 35­‑56.

Silberman, S. (1995). The relationships among love, marital satisfaction, and duration of marriage. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University.

Smith, E. M., Redman, R., Burns, R., & Sagert, K. M. (1986). Perceptions of social support among patients with recently diagnosed breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer: An exploratory study. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 3, 65­‑81.

Spanier, G. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and Family, 38, 15­‑30.

Spiegel, D., Bloom, J. R., & Gottheil, E. (1983). Family environment as a predictor of adjustment to metastatic breast carcinoma. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 1, 33­‑44.

St. Peter, C. (1997). Marital quality and psychosocial determinants of self­‑esteem and body image of mid­‑life women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.

Swartzmann, L. C., Edelber, R., & Kemmann, E. (1990). Impact of stress on objectively recorded menopausal hot flushes and on flush report bias. Health Psychology, 9, 529­‑545.

VandenBos, G. R. (1998). Life­‑span developmental perspectives on aging: An introductory overview. In I. H. Nordhus, G. R. Vandenbos, S. Berg, & P. Fromholt (Eds.), Clinical geropsychology (pp. 3­‑14). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Vliet, E. L. (1995). Screaming to be heard. New York: Raven Press, Ltd.

 

^[1]  Counseling Psychology Program. P.O. Box 870611. Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ, 85287­‑0611. Phone: 480­‑965­‑6104. Fax: 480­‑965­‑0300. E‑mail: sharon.kur‑ pius@asu.edu

^[2]  Counseling Psychology Program.