Stress and Midlife

This series highlights key questions confronting women and clinicians regarding stress and its impact on health and functioning during the midlife years.

Undesirable stressful life events, impact, and correlates during midlife: observations from the Seattle midlife women’s health study

To examine the undesirable stressful life events midlife women experience, including: 1) which life events midlife women reported most frequently; 2) which life events women rated as most undesirable; and 3) w...

Authors: Annette Joan Thomas, Ellen Sullivan Mitchell and Nancy Fugate Woods

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2019 5:1

Content type: Research

Published on: 3 January 2019
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Neighborhood disorder, exposure to violence, and perceived discrimination in relation to symptoms in midlife women

Some symptoms at midlife are associated with stress, such as hot flashes, trouble sleeping, headaches, or depressed mood. Hot flashes have been studied in relation to laboratory stressors, physiological biomar...

Authors: Linda M Gerber and Lynnette Leidy Sievert

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:14

Content type: Research

Published on: 19 October 2018
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Women’s heart health at mid-life: what is the role of psychosocial stress?

Women in mid-life experience unique stressors, including transitions within their family roles, informal caregiving, job stress, and perceived discrimination. The impact of these stressors on cardiovascular he...

Authors: Andrea L. Stewart, Ummul-Kiram Kathawalla, Alexandra G. Wolfe and Susan A. Everson-Rose

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:11

Content type: Review

Published on: 6 July 2018
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The effects of age and ethnicity on the circadian variation of catecholamines and cortisol in employed women

Women employed outside the home in urban settings must adapt to changing circadian microenvironments. The pattern and extent of vasoactive hormone responses to these changes may depend upon age and ethnic back...

Authors: Gary D. James

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:10

Content type: Research

Published on: 28 June 2018
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Stress and the menopausal transition in Campeche, Mexico

Stress has been implicated as a factor in the presence and severity of symptoms during the menopausal transition. Our primary aim was to test the hypothesis that stress-sensitive biological measures and self-r...

Authors: Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Laura Huicochea-Gómez, Diana Cahuich-Campos, Dana-Lynn Ko’omoa-Lange and Daniel E. Brown

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:9

Content type: Research

Published on: 18 June 2018
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The challenges of midlife women: themes from the Seattle midlife Women’s health study

Midlife, the period of the lifespan between younger and older adulthood, has been described as a period of transition in women’s lives. Investigators studying midlife have focused on women 40 to 65 years of ag...

Authors: Annette Joan Thomas, Ellen Sullivan Mitchell and Nancy Fugate Woods

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:8

Content type: Research

Published on: 15 June 2018
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Work outcomes in midlife women: the impact of menopause, work stress and working environment

There is growing research interest in the question of whether menopause impacts upon mid-aged women’s work outcomes, but the evidence to date is inconclusive. This paper examines whether: (i) menopausal status...

Authors: Claire Hardy, Eleanor Thorne, Amanda Griffiths and Myra S. Hunter

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:3

Content type: Research

Published on: 9 April 2018
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Is in utero exposure to maternal socioeconomic disadvantage related to offspring ovarian reserve in adulthood?

Because the ovarian follicle pool is established in utero, adverse exposures during this period may be especially impactful on the size and health of the initial follicle endowment, potentially shaping traject...

Authors: Maria E. Bleil, Paul English, Jhaqueline Valle, Nancy F. Woods, Kyle D. Crowder, Steven E. Gregorich and Marcelle I. Cedars

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:5

Content type: Research

Published on: 16 March 2018
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Stress and midlife women’s health

Stress is ubiquitous in everyday life, and chronic stress can have negative consequences for health and social welfare. Although a growing body of research addresses the relationships between stress, health, a...

Authors: Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Nicole Jaff and Nancy Fugate Woods

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:4

Content type: Commentary

Published on: 16 March 2018
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Perceived stress across the midlife: longitudinal changes among a diverse sample of women, the Study of Women’s health Across the Nation (SWAN)

In women, midlife is a period of social and physiological change. Ostensibly stressful, cross-sectional studies suggest women experience decreasing stress perceptions and increasing positive outlook during thi...

Authors: Elizabeth Hedgeman, Rebecca E. Hasson, Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez, William H. Herman and Siobán D. Harlow

Citation: Women's Midlife Health 2018 4:2

Content type: Research

Published on: 16 March 2018
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