Women’s mental health during the menopausal transitio
Type of research: Mixed method
Description:
Menopause is an inevitable life transition affecting millions of women worldwide. Although it is a natural process, many symptoms such as hot flashes, depressive feelings and fatigue can persist for an average of eight years, causing significant suffering in daily life and potentially leading to absenteeism. The symptom profile varies for each woman and frequently overlaps with other hormonal and psychological conditions, such as premenstrual syndrome, burnout, depression and anxiety. Also a disorder like ADHD is more often diagnosed in women during midlife then early in life (what is more common for men). Previous research primarily focused on the medical aspects of menopause, leaving the interaction between physical and psychological symptoms as well as their relation with other hormone-driven and psychological conditions like premenstrual syndrome, (postpartum) depression, and burnout, underexplored. Moreover, little is known about the use and experiences (positive/negative) with (bio-identical) hormone therapy. The aim of this study is to gain more insight in the level and predictors of women’s mental health during the menopausal transition.
In collaboration with a fellow student, you will design a survey for women in The Netherlands and/or Germany. The exact topic/focus and target group will be discussed in the first meeting. Both quantitative and qualitative questions could be included. There is also a possibility to use a recently developed online positive psychology intervention and test its efficacy in a group of peri- and postmenopausal women; or to test what type of information about hormone therapy women value or distrust.
Example research questions are:
• What is the relation between different mental health symptoms and menopausal symptoms? What overlaps, what is different?
• What predicts enhanced levels of mental health symptoms during the menopausal transition?
• Can we identify who is having a mental health condition, who is in the menopausal transition and who has both?
• What are reasons for women to (not) use (bio)identical hormone therapy for mental health issues (during the menopausal transition)?
• How effective is an online positive psychology intervention on alleviating menopausal and mental health symptoms?