Journal of Women & Aging最新文献

Aims: The overarching goal of the present study was to examine the contribution of various sources of empowerment to mental health during retirement with an added emphasis on gender differences. The empowerment sources that were examined corresponded with three distinct ecological systems: (1) Chronosystem-resource gains from the pre- to post-retirement period and satisfaction with the prior working period; (2) Microsystem-marital power dynamics (measured by the division of household labor and decision-making in the marital relationship) and the presence of a confidant; (3) Ontogenetic system-a sense of meaning in one's life during the retirement period and an assessment of absolute resources.

Method: The research sample consisted of 160 Israeli retirees (78 women and 82 men) who had retired within the previous eight years. Data were collected by the Panels Research Institute in Israel using the institute's database of members. Participants completed an online questionnaire accessible via a website link. Statistical processing was performed using ANOVA and hierarchical regression analysis.

Results: The results indicated that retirees' reports of resource gains after retirement, their sense of meaning in life, their satisfaction with their working period prior to retirement, and their perceived level of absolute resources were all associated with mental health. Additionally, the more participants (both men and women) rated that the husband was involved in household labor, the better retirees reported their mental health to be. Gender differences were found in regard to some empowerment sources during retirement: retired women reported lower levels of mental health and prior work satisfaction compared to retired men, and men's assessments of their participation in household labor and decision-making were higher than women's assessments of their husbands' involvement. The proportion of men who reported that their wives were their confidants was higher than the proportion of women who reported that their husbands were their confidants.

Summary and conclusions: Overall, men experienced more sources of empowerment than women during retirement, but findings suggest that men's emotional dependence on their wives is greater than women's emotional dependence on their husbands. Based on the study's findings, recommendations are offered to professionals who work with retirees.

The present study aimed to determine the effect of lifestyle educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior on promoting the quality of life of middle-aged women. The present quasi-experimental study examined 80 middle-aged women and randomly divided them into two groups (intervention and control). Data collection tools included the demographic information questionnaire, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II), the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), and the author-developed questionnaire based on constructs of the theory of planned behavior. Data were collected via WhatsApp twice (before and three months after the educational intervention). Five 45-minute training sessions were held for the intervention group and a 60-minute session for a family member regarding physical activity and spiritual growth over two months via WhatsApp. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and the results were considered significant at a statistical level (p < .05). The implementation of the educational intervention significantly increased the mean scores of quality of life, physical activity and spiritual growth, knowledge regarding physical activity and spiritual growth, attitude toward physical activity and spiritual growth, subjective norms toward spiritual growth, perceived behavioral control for physical activity, and behavioral intention to perform physical activity and spiritual growth in the intervention group in comparison with the control group. The educational intervention, which was designed based on constructs of the theory of planned behavior, was influential in promoting the lifestyles and quality of life of middle-aged women. Therefore, it is suggested to use the educational program of the present study in addition to other middle-age health care.

This study examined the incidence of loneliness among Chilean indigenous older adult women (106 Aymara and 180 Mapuche) and how family, community and socio-cultural integration are associated with lower levels of loneliness. A cross-sectional study involving 800 older adults living in a rural context in Chile, of whom 35.8% were indigenous women. The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS-6) were used to assess loneliness and a questionnaire about the maintenance of certain indigenous cultural practices was created. The descriptive findings indicate more loneliness among Mapuche women. Moreover, hierarchical regression models confirmed that women who did not live alone, who participated in social groups and who maintained cultural practices reported lower levels of loneliness, with notable transmission of indigenous knowledge to their children. While, taking part in the indigenous New Year, leading or organizing a ceremony and receiving attention with a health cultural agent were associated with more loneliness. These seemingly contradictory findings are discussed and may be explained by religious changes in indigenous communities; however, this study would confirm that social integration in different dimensions is a protective factor against loneliness.

Older women experience intersectional discrimination at the nexus of ageism and sexism. This is embodied, women's aging bodies being culturally devalued within youth-privileging cultures and the hyper-sexualization of younger, able-bodied, women. Older women often face the dilemma of attempting to mask the signs of aging or aging "authentically" but encountering heightened stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. Very old women in the fourth age who "fail" to age "successfully" are subject to extreme social exclusion. Many older women speak of experiencing a loss of visibility as they age, however how this occurs, and what it means, has not yet been analyzed in depth. This is an important issue, as recognition-cultural status and visibility-is essential for social justice. This article reports on findings taken from a U.K. survey on experiences of ageism and sexism completed by 158 heterosexual, lesbian, and bisexual women aged 50 to 89. Their perceived invisibility took five forms: (a) being under-seen/mis-seen in the media; (b) being mis-seen as objects of sexual undesirability; (c) being "ignored" in consumer, social, and public spaces; (d) being "grandmotherized," that is, seen only through the lens of (often incorrectly) presumed grandmotherhood; (e) being patronized and erroneously assumed to be incompetent. The findings are compared with Fraser's social justice model. The argument presented is that older women's experiences of nonrecognition and misrecognition are profound sources of social injustice. Both increased visibility and cultural worth are needed for older women to enjoy the benefits of social justice in later life.

This study examined differences in mental health in older adult women before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants who were community dwelling (N = 227) included n = 67 women aged 60-94 in the pre-pandemic group and n = 160 women aged 60-85 in the peri-pandemic group who completed self-report measures assessing mental health and quality of life (QOL). We compared mental health and QOL indices across the pre- and peri-pandemic groups. Results indicated that the peri-pandemic group reported higher anxiety (F = 4.94, p = .027) than the pre-pandemic group. No other significant differences emerged. Given the differential effects in this pandemic across SES, we conducted exploratory analyses investigating differences by income group. Controlling for education and race, within the pre-pandemic group, women with lower income reported worse physical function compared to the mid- and high-income groups. Within the peri-pandemic group, women with lower income reported worse anxiety, poorer sleep, and poorer QOL (physical function, role limitations due to physical problems, vitality, and pain) than high-income individuals. Overall, women who reported lower income reported worse mental health and QOL than those with high-income, especially during the pandemic. This indicates that income might act as a buffer for older women against negative psychological outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For women, midlife represents an important stage of transition, including shifts in physiological, social, and sexual experiences. Prior research demonstrates that women's sexuality is more dynamic and context-dependent than men's. Most research focused on women's sexuality in mid- to later-life emphasizes physiological changes, while largely ignoring changes stemming from social, psychological, and relational contexts. The present study examined midlife women's diverse sexual experiences within the context of their lives. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 women, ages 39-57, and used interpretative phenomenological analysis to investigate perceptions and interpretations of midlife sexual experiences and changes. Themes included changes in sexual engagement, unwanted sexual experiences, body image, and sexual healthcare. Participants reported changes in the frequency of sex and sexual desire within the context of their diverse social roles and identities, prior intimate relationships, and sexual health. Women contrasted perceptions of their own bodies with societal perceptions of sexiness. Frequently reported negative experiences with sexual healthcare informed a distrust of healthcare systems. The diverse and changing nature of participants' experiences supports prior evidence of sexual fluidity and context-dependence. By questioning societal expectations around sexuality and body image, participants illustrated the potential of counternarratives to combat dominant beliefs and stereotypes about midlife women's sexuality. To improve sexual health and education, psychoeducational interventions for women in midlife are needed.

This study examined factors that may be associated with depression among middle-aged women in South Korea using data from the 2018 (7th) wave of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families. A sample of 6,399 women aged 35-64 years was included. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with depressive symptoms, as measured by the CES-D-10 scale (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression), in pre- and post-menopausal women. Results indicated that being single, having poorer self-rated health, and having a lower economic background were associated with an increased risk of depression in both groups. Being unemployed also increased the risk of depressed mood in pre-menopausal women, while factors significantly associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms in post-menopausal women included having a lower level of education, musculoskeletal pain, and having pain or discomfort. Thus, these factors should be considered when developing interventions to improve the mood and quality of life of middle-aged women. Interventions in the local community may include health services (hormone therapy), educational learning programs, counselling, and improved access to leisure activities.

In 2021, 11.3 million unpaid caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease/Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) provided 16 billion hours of unpaid caregiving worth $271.6 billion. This study aimed to fully capture the contextual complexities of the caregiving role acquisition articulated by female family caregivers of those with AD/ADRD, emphasizing assigned meaning to one's lived experience with a critical focus on how family power structures influence caregiving practices. Recorded open structured interview transcripts (N = 30) from two qualitative studies with the same two opening questions resulted in a corpus of 481 pages of pooled textual data. The data were analyzed using Utrecht's descriptive and interpretive thematic analysis approach. The interpretive thematic analysis uncovered the theme of intervening to protect and its subthemes of financial exploitation, mistreatment, and endangerment. Based on the evolving analysis, we reanalyzed the data using critical discourse analysis (CDA), drawing from Foucault and feminist CDA to explore the complex but subtle nuances of gender, power, and ideologies. CDA uncovered the theme of compulsory altruism. Ambiguity about violating personhood delayed responses to potentially dangerous behavior and actual harm. Using interpretive thematic and critical discourse analysis, we discovered a deeper understanding of female caregivers' contextual complexities, their journey to becoming a caregiver of a family member with AD/ADRD, and the power structures that relegated caregiving to female family members. This research identified a substantial policy gap in supporting female family caregivers who provide the majority of care to persons with AD/ADRD risking their health and financial security.