Attitude toward menopause among married middle-aged adults.
One-hundred and sixty-nine-married couples participated in a study designed to examine the relationship of menopausal attitude to the frequency of menopausal symptoms at midlife. Participants completed the Bowles' (1986a) Menopause Attitude Scale and a modified version of the Menopausal Symptoms Checklist (Neugarten & Kraines, 1965). Wives expressed a more positive attitude toward menopause than their husbands, and wives reported experiencing more menopausal symptoms than their husbands perceived them as having. Post-menopausal women expressed a more positive attitude toward menopause than peri-menopausal women or women who had experienced surgical menopause. For both men and women, a positive attitude toward menopause was associated with women who reported fewer menopausal symptoms. A preliminary Structural Equation Model is presented as an effort to further stimulate the development of a theoretical model of attitude toward menopause among middle-aged married couples.
Papini
Dennis R
DR
Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA. DR-Papini@wiu.edu
Intrieri
Robert C
RC
Goodwin
Paige E
PE
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States