Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study how contemporary, healthy midlife women perceive menopause and what their sources of information on menopause are. A nonclinical convenience sample of 505 middle-class women aged 35-55 (mean age = 46.6) from across the U.S. responded to the Midlife Women's Health Survey. Overall, the findings convey a somewhat disturbing picture of menopause. Notable was the absence of any sense of achievement or elevated status associated with becoming menopausal; a disease focus was common as well. These findings are discussed in terms of strategies to help women's adjustment to this life stage.