A Decrease in Psycho-Emotional Health in Middle-Aged Russian Women Associated with Their Lifestyle

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Role overload in middle-aged women, balancing professional, family, and caregiving responsibilities, contributes to high stress levels.
• Caring for elderly parents exacerbates stress, negatively impacting psychological well-being and emotional health.
• The study focuses on Russian middle-aged women experiencing significant life role demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the predictive role of lifestyle and subjective factors on middle-aged women's psycho-emotional health.
• To examine the influence of parent-child relationships, attachment styles, and separation types on mental well-being.
• To identify how different relationship dynamics with parents impact women's personal resources and emotional state.

Main Methods:

• The study involved two empirical groups of middle-aged women (n=61 and n=85) in Russia.
• Utilized adapted Russian-speaking sample questionnaires for socio-demographics, psychological well-being, attachment, interpersonal guilt, psychological separation, and purpose in life.
• Employed interviews, projective methods, and mathematical statistics for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Role overload and caregiving responsibilities negatively affect psycho-emotional health indicators.
• Four types of relationships with parents (anxious closeness, ambivalence, secondary relationship, alienation) predict psycho-emotional health, influencing personal resources.
• Adult women's separation type from their mother is a significant predictor of their well-being.

Conclusions:

• Middle-aged Russian women's psycho-emotional health is influenced by a demanding, role-overloaded lifestyle.
• Relationships with parents, attachment, guilt, and separation are key factors affecting women's mental health.
• Specific types of parent-child relationships uniquely contribute to or detract from middle-aged women's psycho-emotional health.