Contextual influences on women's health concerns and attitudes toward menopause

Abstract

Social factors that affect women's attitudes toward menopause were examined in a sample of 1,037 baby boomer women who took part in two waves of the Midlife in the United States survey. Survey data were collected in 1996 and 2005 from a nationally representative sample of women born between 1946 and 1964 residing in the United States. Women's attitudes toward the effects of menopause on fertility, health, and attractiveness were examined. Analyses supported a two-factor model of women's adaptation to menopause: Attitudes concerning the effects of menopause on fertility and the cessation of menstruation had different antecedents than attitudes concerning the impact of menopause on health and attractiveness. Women who had more positive attitudes regarding loss of fertility occupied more roles, were older, less educated, yet more secure financially. Women who had more positive views of the effects of menopause on health and attractiveness reported fewer symptoms of menopause. These analyses were replicated in waves 1 and 2 of the data set. Results may be helpful to social work practitioners and social work policy advocates.