The Empty Nest, Employment, and Psychiatric Symptoms in College-Educated Women

The Psychological Well-Being of Women in Their Middle Years

Questionnaires were completed by 232 married women, aged 46–61, who were graduates of a large mideastern university. Empty nest status, employment level, age, socioeconomic status, educational level, menopausal symptoms, and husband's attitude toward wife working were used to predict symptomatology, general happiness, marital satisfaction, work satisfaction, and adjustment to the anticipated or actual empty nest. Interviews were conducted with 12 selected participants. Results of the survey indicated that the women were generally well-adjusted and that the impact of the predictor variables was practically nonsignificant. Interview data suggested that a specific event (e.g., children leaving home) or situation (e.g., employment status) may not be as important as the ability to cope creatively with situations as they arise.

Looking at the future and seeing the past: the challenge of the middle years of parenting a child with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND

This paper seeks to understand and conceptualize the experience of mothers of adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) at a time in their lives which others have characterized as 'mid-life' or the 'middle years of parenting'. The concerns of the paper are the lifecourse concerns in mothers' own lives and with biographical elements of becoming and being such a parent.

METHODS

Qualitative interviews were conducted with mothers of adolescents with IDs. The average age of mothers was 48 years. Typically parents were interviewed on two to three occasions.

RESULTS

The data suggest that despite the difficulties they faced, these parents had constructed a 'life-as-ordinary' in the early phase of their parental careers. They saw themselves as 'ordinary mothers'. However, the social content and events of the middle years of parenting prompt a realization that their lives and, for some, their sense of 'self', are undergoing considerable change. Mothers are forced to look over their lives to find the meaning and significance of these events. For some, there is biographical reinforcement. For others, there is only disruption.

DISCUSSION

The overall picture of these years is one of considerable changes and challenges, and underlines the need for a focus on the lifecourse concerns of parents as well as their children. The implications of the data for further research and service development are discussed in the context of identity theory.

The Ohio Midlife Women's Study

The Ohio Midlife Women's Study was longitudinal with measurements occurring at three, 9-month intervals. Our purpose in doing this research was to examine predictors, moderators, and outcome variables associated with the transition to midlife in Caucasian and African American women. Predictor variables included loss and gain of resources. Moderators included menopause symptoms, menopausal status, attitude toward menopause, coping, and demographic characteristics. Outcome variables included anxiety, depression, and health promoting activities. To obtain the proposed final sample of 160 midlife women, an initial sample of 103 African American and 105 Caucasian "healthy" women were recruited in the community. Consistent predictors of anxiety were loss of resources, coping effectiveness, and education. Consistent predictors of depression were loss of resources and education. Health promoting activities were consistently predicted by attitude toward menopause and coping effectiveness. Stress is a better predictor of negative health outcomes than menopausal status.

Trends in the use of climacteric and postclimacteric hormones in Nordic countries

The extent of menopausal and postmenopausal hormone use in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden during 1981-1992 was studied by means of drug sales figures and associations between hormone use, education, employment and occupational status, by questionnaire surveys in each of the respective countries in the 1980s-90s. According to sales figures, hormone use has been different in each of the countries studied. In 1981 use was three times more common in Denmark than in Norway. In 1992 use had increased in all the other countries except Denmark, and was highest in Finland and Sweden. Based on 1981 data for Norway, on 1987 data for Denmark and on 1989 data for Finland, use of hormone therapy was related to education, employment or occupational status in Finland but not in Denmark or Norway. Differences in the phases of innovation diffusion between these countries may offer a partial explanation for these results.

Women, work, and alcohol: failures of simple theories

When trying to explain how women's employment affects their drinking behavior, oversimplified theories produce weak and inconsistent results. Recent research casts doubt on any simple ideas that paid employment is hazardous for women's mental health and drinking, or that paid employment is beneficial for women's mental health and drinking, or that stressful jobs increase women's risks of problem drinking. Improved, more complex theories could specify which women will modify their drinking behavior as a result of particular employment experiences, predict interaction effects of employment conditions with other aspects of women's lives, and explain how employment may create a context where other variables may increase or reduce risks of problem drinking.

Child-rearing, marital, recreational and work role integration and climacteric symptoms in midlife women

This study investigated relationships between the roles women enact during midlife and the frequency and severity of symptoms they report at the climacteric. A sample of 185 healthy, middle-aged women completed measures assessing climacteric symptoms, adjustment to the marital role, and degree of participation in child-rearing, recreational, and work roles. Findings indicated that the more roles women enact, the less likely they are to experience climacteric symptoms. Adjustment to the marital role and an active recreational role were the best predictors of infrequent and mild climacteric symptoms. The number of hours worked was negatively related to recreational involvement and marital role adjustment but did not relate to climacteric symptoms. The child-rearing role was not related to symptoms. These findings indicate that successful marital adaptation and active role participation may be significantly related to diminished climacteric symptoms formation of midlife women.