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

Maria V Saporovskaia,Maria E Voronina,Tatiana L Kryukova,Elena V Tikhomirova,Anna G Samokhvalova,Svetlana A Khazova

doi:10.3390/ijerph18020388

Abstract

(1) Background: The present study is aimed to determine the predicting role of objective (lifestyle) and subjective factors of middle-aged women’s psycho-emotional health such as their relations with parents, attachment and separation types. Women who are overloaded with professional and family roles have high stress level, their indicators of psychological well-being and emotional level decrease when they have to give everyday care to their elderly parents. (2) Methods: The research sample has two empirical groups. Sample of Study 1 includes middle-aged women (n = 61) aged 38–56 (M = 48.1, SD = 3.5); sample of Study 2 includes middle-aged women (n = 85) aged 33–52 (M = 40.6, SD = 3.1): married (70.5%) and divorced (29.5%), having children of 14–28 years old; giving everyday care to elderly parents for more than 1.5 yrs. Some live separately (62.3 %), or have to cohabitate with parents (37.7%). All women evaluate their life situation as difficult and manifest signs of high psycho-emotional stress. We used methods adapted for the Russian-speaking sample: getting socio-demographic information, an interview; The scales of psychological well-being; Attachment style and Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaires (study 1); Psychological Separation Inventory, Purpose-in-Life Test, projective methods (study 2), mathematical statistics. (3) Results: A number of factors and indicators of women’s psycho-emotional health decrease in the situation of role overload have been identified. Among the factors there are four main types of women’s relationships with parents: Anxious closeness; Ambivalence of feelings; Secondary relationship with parents; Alienation, predicting of psycho-emotional health that are reducing or enhancing their personal resources. Besides, a type of separation of an adult woman from her mother predicts her level of well-being. (4) Conclusions: The study confirms that middle-aged Russian women’s psycho-emotional health depends on contextual factors (difficult role-overloaded lifestyle) and factors integrating women‘s relations towards parents, attachment, guilt and separation. Types of middle-aged women’s relationships with parents contribute to their psychoemotional health in a different way.

Highlights

The change in the usual routine and in economic relations, stratification in society, and gender inequality, as well as political, economic, sociocultural, and ecological threats, result in psychological overloads, changes in the lifestyle, and affect the mentality of contemporary females, who remain a vulnerable social group even in the 21st century.Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, emphasized that the coronavirus-related crisis made the life situation for many women worse in a variety of countries, and asked 4.0/).Int
Characteristic of middle-aged women who are included in the daily care of elderly parents?
Relationship types with parents, attachment style, and feeling of guilt were studied as independent variables or a subjective factor of women’s psycho-emotional health

Summary

Introduction

The change in the usual routine and in economic relations, stratification in society, and gender inequality, as well as political, economic, sociocultural, and ecological threats, result in psychological overloads, changes in the lifestyle, and affect the mentality of contemporary females, who remain a vulnerable social group even in the 21st century.Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, emphasized that the coronavirus-related crisis made the life situation for many women worse in a variety of countries, and asked 4.0/).Int.

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