Thomas Annette Joan, Mitchell Ellen Sullivan, Woods Nancy Fugate
1College of Nursing, Seattle University, Seattle, USA.
2Family and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Womens Midlife Health. 2019 Jan 3;5:1. doi: 10.1186/s40695-018-0045-y. eCollection 2019.
To examine the undesirable stressful life events midlife women experience, including: 1) which life events midlife women reported most frequently; 2) which life events women rated as most undesirable; and 3) whether age, years of education, income, employment, race/ethnicity, marital status, being a parent, and the menopausal transition stage were associated with the impact scores of the life event categories.
In addition to the menopausal transition, midlife is a time of increased responsibilities for women related to multiple roles such as taking care of children, caring for elderly parents, managing households, and working outside the home. These multiple roles put midlife women at risk for increased stress with little time for themselves in order to relieve stress.
The sample used in this study is part of a larger longitudinal study, The Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study. Women ( = 380 for Occasion 1) completed the 77-item Life Events Scale on four occasions during the course of the SMWHS: Occasion 1 (1990), Occasion 2 (1992), Occasion 3 (1997), and Occasion 4 (2000). In addition to descriptive analyses of frequency of life events and the undesirable impact of life events, demographic correlates (age, education, income, employment, being a parent as well as marital status, race/ethnicity, and menopausal transition stages) were examined in relation to the stressful life event scores.
Highest scores of undesirable life events were for categories of both Financial and Family/Friends over 3 of the 4 occasions. Health and Crime/Legal scores were among the highest for 2 occasions. Impact of the undesirable stressful life events was greatest for categories of Family/Friends; Personal/Social; Work; and, Health. Age, income, marital status, being a parent, and menopausal transition stage were each associated with specific categories of the stressful event impact scores.
Most commonly reported undesirable life events were not those women described as having the greatest impact. Impact of life event stress reflected women's social roles and connections as seen in the categories with the highest impact scores: Family/Close Friends, Personal/Social, and Work. Menopausal transition stages were related only to undesirable health events.
研究中年女性经历的不良应激性生活事件，包括：1）中年女性报告最频繁的生活事件；2）女性认为最不良的生活事件；3）年龄、受教育年限、收入、就业情况、种族/民族、婚姻状况、是否为父母以及绝经过渡阶段是否与生活事件类别的影响得分相关。
除了绝经过渡阶段，中年时期女性还承担着更多责任，涉及多种角色，如照顾孩子、照料年迈父母、管理家庭以及外出工作。这些多重角色使中年女性面临压力增加的风险，几乎没有时间留给自己来缓解压力。
本研究使用的样本是一项更大的纵向研究“西雅图中年女性健康研究”的一部分。女性（第一次调查时n = 380）在西雅图中年女性健康研究过程中的四个时间点完成了77项生活事件量表：第一次调查（1990年）、第二次调查（1992年）、第三次调查（1997年）和第四次调查（2000年）。除了对生活事件的频率和不良影响进行描述性分析外，还研究了人口统计学相关因素（年龄、教育程度、收入、就业情况、是否为父母以及婚姻状况、种族/民族和绝经过渡阶段）与应激性生活事件得分的关系。
在4次调查中的3次，不良生活事件得分最高的类别是财务和家庭/朋友。健康和犯罪/法律得分在2次调查中处于最高水平。不良应激性生活事件对家庭/朋友、个人/社交、工作和健康类别的影响最大。年龄、收入、婚姻状况、是否为父母以及绝经过渡阶段均与应激事件影响得分的特定类别相关。
最常报告的不良生活事件并非女性描述为影响最大的事件。生活事件压力的影响反映了女性的社会角色和人际关系，如影响得分最高的类别所示：家庭/亲密朋友、个人/社交和工作。绝经过渡阶段仅与不良健康事件相关。
