Cohort study, 1999
What causes negative mood during menopause?
The menopause transition itself and hormone levels do not directly cause negative mood. Instead, past premenstrual problems, negative attitudes to aging, life stress, health problems, smoking, low exercise, and relationship issues are the main causes.
What they did
6 annual prospective assessments in 354 Australian community women of mid-age. Used repeated measures multivariate analysis to test which variables predicted negative mood, including menopausal status, FSH, estradiol, inhibin, premenstrual history, attitudes, health, stress, and relationships.
What they found
Negative mood scores decreased over time and were NOT related to natural menopausal transition, FSH, estradiol, inhibin, age, or education. Mood was predicted by baseline premenstrual complaints, negative attitudes to aging and menopause, and parity of one. During follow-up, mood worsened by prior negative mood, bothersome symptoms, poor health, negative partner feelings, smoking, low exercise, and daily hassles. Mood improved by reducing symptoms, improving health, positive partner feelings, gaining a partner, and reducing stress.
What it means for you
Hormone changes of menopause alone do not cause mood problems. Instead, midlife stress, health, relationships, and lifestyle factors are the key drivers of mood during this transition. This suggests mood support should focus on these factors, not just hormone treatment. Study limited to Australian women and may not apply elsewhere.
354
women in the study
6
annual assessments over study period
About the study
- Original title
- Mood and the menopausal transition
- Authors
- Dennerstein L, Lehert P, Burger H et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of nervous and mental disease
- Year
- 1999
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 354
- What was tested
- None (observational)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199911000-00006
Topics
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