Psychosocial factors promoting resilience during the menopausal transition

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.