Perceived stress as a mediator between negative life events and psychosocial quality of life during the menopausal transition: A path analysis.

BACKGROUND

The menopausal transition, accompanied by numerous life challenges, is characterised by significant hormonal fluctuations and various symptoms. This study investigates the intricate relationships among perceived stress, resilience, self-efficacy, and social support vs. negative life events and their combined impact on the psychosocial quality of life (QoL) in women across the menopausal transition.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were gathered via an anonymous online survey of women aged 40-60 at various stages of the menopausal transition (premenopausal, n = 36; perimenopausal, n = 120; postmenopausal, n = 113), classified using STRAW+10 criteria, resulting in 269 valid responses. The survey included measures for negative life events, perceived stress, social support, resilience, self-efficacy, and menopausal-specific QoL. The study's path model regarded negative life events as an exogenous variable and perceived stress, social support, resilience, self-efficacy, and psychosocial quality of life as endogenous variables, whilst controlling for age and menopausal stage.

RESULTS

Negative life events were significantly associated with lower social support (β = -.186) and resilience (β = -.182), higher perceived stress (β = .338), and poorer psychosocial QoL (β = .164). Perceived stress emerged as the strongest predictor of psychosocial QoL (β = .578). Resilience, social support, and self-efficacy were indirectly linked to better psychosocial QoL through their effects on stress reduction. The model explained 47% of the variance in psychosocial QoL and 41% in perceived stress.

CONCLUSION

Perceived stress emerged as the central mediator linking negative life events to psychosocial QoL, with resilience, self-efficacy, and social support as indirect protective factors. Enhancing these modifiable factors through targeted interventions may improve well-being in women across the menopausal transition. Future longitudinal studies are needed to validate these findings.