The dynamics of stress and fatigue across menopause: attractors, coupling, and resilience

Taylor-Swanson, Lisa; Wong, Alexander E.; Pincus, David; Butner, Jonathan; Hahn‐Holbrook, Jennifer; Koithan, Mary; Wann, Kathryn; Woods, Nancy Fúgate

doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000001025

Cited by 23 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In particular, those studies [13, 14, 16], have highlighted the urgency of considering the consequences of the psychophysical fatigue during menopause on the quality of the women work life, in particular concerning the question of work-related stress. A previous study [70], examining the relationship between stress and fatigue, has highlighted that the dynamic relationship between these two variables change dramatically during menopausal transition. According to the authors [70], this change can be attributable to a dysregulation in the general homeostatic equilibrium of the body, which may lead, in turn, to a decrease of the ability to bounce back from either stress or fatigue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A previous study [70], examining the relationship between stress and fatigue, has highlighted that the dynamic relationship between these two variables change dramatically during menopausal transition. According to the authors [70], this change can be attributable to a dysregulation in the general homeostatic equilibrium of the body, which may lead, in turn, to a decrease of the ability to bounce back from either stress or fatigue. In the same direction, our findings shed light on the very deep and pervasive nature of this process of depletion of psychophysiological energy at work during menopause.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationship between menopausal symptoms and burnout. A cross-sectional study among nurses

et al. 2019

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BackgroundDespite the growing presence of menopausal women in workplaces, studies aimed at exploring the link between menopausal symptoms and job well-being are scarce. In the interest of addressing this gap, the present study aimed to explore whether menopausal symptoms might contribute to increased levels of burnout and whether this relationship can be moderated by social or personal resources.MethodThe study design was cross-sectional and non-randomized. Ninety-four menopausal nurses completed a self-report questionnaire including scales aimed at measuring menopausal symptoms, burnout, social (i.e., support from superiors and colleagues) and personal (i.e., self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) resources. Moderated regression analyses were performed to test study hypotheses.ResultsWhereas menopausal symptoms were associated significantly with emotional exhaustion, no social or personal resources were found to moderate this relationship. Regarding depersonalization, our study indicated that it was affected by menopausal symptoms only among nurses who reported low social support (from superiors and colleagues), optimism, and resilience.ConclusionThe present study highlights the importance of organizations that employ a growing number of menopausal women to seek solutions at the individual and social levels that help these women deal with their menopausal transition while working.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between menopausal symptoms and burnout. A cross-sectional study among nurses

et al. 2019

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“…However, previous definitions and measurements of resilience are not sufficient to capture all relevant aspects of resilience during this complex and highly specific psychophysiological transition phase in a woman’s life (Taylor-Swanson et al 2018 ). Over the past decades, more than a dozen measurements have been developed to examine psychological resilience factors (Süss and Fischer 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial factors promoting resilience during the menopausal transition

Süss

Willi

Grub

et al. 2020

Arch Womens Ment Health

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Despite significant biological, psychological, and social challenges in the perimenopause, most women report an overall positive well-being and appear to be resilient to potentially negative effects of this life phase. The objective of this study was to detect psychosocial variables which contribute to resilience in a sample of perimenopausal women. A total of 135 healthy perimenopausal women aged 40–56 years completed a battery of validated psychosocial questionnaires including variables related to resilience, well-being, and mental health. First, using exploratory factor analysis, we examined which of the assessed variables related to resilience can be assigned to a common factor. Second, linear regression analyses were performed to investigate whether a common resilience factor predicts well-being and mental health in the examined sample of women. Optimism (LOT-R-O), emotional stability (BFI-K-N), emotion regulation (ERQ), self-compassion (SCS-D), and self-esteem (RSES) in perimenopausal women can be allocated to a single resilience-associated factor. Regression analyses revealed that this factor is related to higher life satisfaction (SWLS; β = .39, p < .001, adj. R2 = .20), lower perceived stress (PSS-10; β = − .55, p < .001, adj. R2 = .30), lower psychological distress (BSI-18; β = − .49, p < .001, adj. R2 = .22), better general psychological health (GHQ-12; β = − .49, p < .001, adj. R2 = .22), milder menopausal complaints (MRS II; β = − .41, p < .001, adj. R2 = .18), and lower depressive symptoms (ADS-L; β = − .32, p < .001, adj. R2 = .26). The α levels were adjusted for multiple testing. Our findings confirm that several psychosocial variables (optimism, emotional stability, emotion regulation, self-compassion, and self-esteem) can be allocated to one common resilience-associated factor. This resilience factor is strongly related to women’s well-being as well as mental health in perimenopause.

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“…Fatigue, especially chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), described as a feeling of lack of energy, weariness, loss of drive, decrease or loss of ability to sustain even routine activities, overwhelming feeling of tiredness, exhaustion, and physical or mental strain that occurs without conspicuous effort, is a debilitating and complex illness, accounting for sizable economic costs to individuals and contributing to a global problem as a whole [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Fatigue frequently occurs in women more so than men, and the prevalence of fatigue in menopausal women is 67.9%, which is significantly higher than that of women during the pre- and perimenopausal period [ 1 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The common associated symptoms or signs include vasomotor symptoms (cold sweating, hot flashes on the face, and palpitation), physical problems (bone soreness and pain, backache, and numbness of the hands, feet, or skin), and psychological problems (feeling tired, absence of energy, anxiety, depression, distress, memory impairment (forgetfulness), insomnia, decreased libido, inability to concentrate, etc.) [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Among the aforementioned symptoms or signs, forgetfulness, insomnia, muscular and bone pain, and loss of energy are frequently reported in many studies [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Perimenopausal Fatigue Self-Management Scale Is Suitable for Evaluating Perimenopausal Taiwanese Women’s Vulnerability to Fatigue Syndrome

et al. 2021

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The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of utilizing the established perimenopausal fatigue self-management scale (P-MFSMS) to evaluate perimenopausal Taiwanese women’s vulnerability to fatigue syndrome. A cross-sectional study design was adopted to survey 220 perimenopausal Taiwanese women with a mean age of 51.8 ± 4.64 years and a mean body mass index of 23.07 ± 3.04 kg/m2, 75.9% of whom were married, 52.3% had a college education or above, 80.4% had salaries, 81.3% had small families, and 96.4% were not using hormone therapy. The P-MFSMS consists of 25 questions based on six categories: (1) strive to maintain work energy and efficiency; (2) seek self-help from medical resources (doctor shopping); (3) strive to maintain the normal operation of the family (seeking help and support from family or significant other); (4) make time for activities or exercise in busy life; (5) slow down or adjust lifestyle; (6) frustration. For all of these six categories, the minimum loading of each question on the factor was calculated to be over 0.50, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.78 and a corrected total-item correlation of >0.50. The goodness of fit of the model was determined to be acceptable, with a chi-square/df value of <3.0 (χ2 = 503.45 and df = 260), a root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) value of 0.065 (<0.08), as well as a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) value of 0.892. The Tucker–Lewis index (TLI = 0.91), Comparative Fit index (CFI = 0.92), and Incremental Fit index (IFI = 0.92) were all >0.90. There was no statistically significant difference in the difficulty between perimenopausal and postmenopausal women utilizing differential item function (DIF) analysis. Taken together, the 25-question P-MFSMS may be a potentially valid and reliable instrument for suitably evaluating perimenopausal Taiwanese women’s vulnerability to fatigue syndrome. Future studies will be conducted to test the effectiveness of the P-MFSMS for evaluating perimenopausal Taiwanese women’s vulnerability to fatigue syndrome in clinical practice.

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The dynamics of stress and fatigue across menopause: attractors, coupling, and resilience

Abstract: Results are suggestive of general dysregulation via disruptions to coupling relationships of stress and fatigue across the MT. Findings support a holistic approach to understanding symptoms and supporting women during the MT.

Cited by 23 publications

References 39 publications

The relationship between menopausal symptoms and burnout. A cross-sectional study among nurses

The relationship between menopausal symptoms and burnout. A cross-sectional study among nurses

Psychosocial factors promoting resilience during the menopausal transition

The Perimenopausal Fatigue Self-Management Scale Is Suitable for Evaluating Perimenopausal Taiwanese Women’s Vulnerability to Fatigue Syndrome

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