title: A cross-cultural comparison of climacteric symptoms, self-esteem, and perceived social support between Mosuo women and Han Chinese women.
abstract: This cross-cultural study aimed to compare climacteric symptoms, self-esteem, and perceived social support between Mosuo and Han Chinese women, and to explore the interaction between culture and climacteric symptoms. Mosuo is a Chinese minority group with a matriarchal structure, and Han Chinese is the majority ethnic group in China with a patriarchal structure.
  
  
  
  Through convenience sampling, 54 Mosuo women and 52 Han Chinese women between 40 and 60 years of age completed the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Menopause Rating Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Scale.
  
  
  
  Compared with Han Chinese women, Mosuo women scored lower on the psychological (P < 0.001) and the somato-vegetative (P = 0.047) subscales of the Menopause Rating Scale, but higher on the Self-Esteem Scale (P = 0.006) and the "support from family" subscale of the Perceived Social Support Scale (P = 0.004). Multiple linear regressions indicated that minority ethnicity (β = 0.207, P = 0.016) was one of the predictive variables of psychological symptoms severity. Referring to the severity of all symptoms, predictive variables were: perceived support from family (β = -0.210, P = 0.017); self-esteem (β = 0.320, P < 0.001); previous history of premenstrual syndrome (β = 0.293, P < 0.001); number of family members (β = -0.229, P = 0.003); and family income (β = -0.173, P = 0.028).
  
  
  
  Differences in climacteric symptoms were found between two groups. Cultural variables such as familial structure, women's self-esteem, and perceived social support were correlated with symptomatology.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 2Shanghai East Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China 3Institute of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 4Institute of Anthropology and Cultural Science, Bremen University, Bremen, Germany 5Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leonhart
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nadig
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasenburg
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wirsching
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fritzsche
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008593:Menopause / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support