Assessing the impact of psychological risk to women experiencing sexual changes during menopause

Abstract

Healthy ageing is recognised as a global health priority. As research develops in this area, it is broadly acknowledged that a healthy and happy sexual relationship can contribute to feelings of wellness in older people. Though for many women at middle age, menopause can cause significant disruption to their sexual embodiment, self-confidence, and feelings of wellness.
To date there is limited research-based evidence which demonstrates the impact of women’s feelings of how sexual changes during menopause can affect their sense of wellbeing. To support and provide an adequate health service for women we must be able to fully appreciate the impact of sexual changes during this biological transition and research must reflect the voices of the women living through this.
This research programme has employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to capture and explore women’s narratives and feelings around sexual changes during menopause. A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) with reflexive thematic analysis (Study 1) formed the foundation of the research, allowing the researcher to identify common and reoccurring themes across cultures from qualitative data within 19 papers representing 9 countries. Based upon the QES findings, a national cross sectional UK survey was then distributed (Study 2) with the aim of measuring the relationship between individual differences (Big Five Personality traits), and i) Menopausal Quality of Life (MENQOL) and ii) Sexual Satisfaction via Climacteric Adjustment as a mediator. Finally, a measurement of psychological capital (PsyCap) prior to and after an emotional writing intervention was conducted (Study 3) with a framework analysis applied to the qualitative data extracted from the emotional writing intervention. A reflexive social feminist theory was applied to this research by highlighting the oppression and discrimination influenced by gendered power in adopted social norms, narratives and behaviours for middle aged women and their impact on wellbeing.
Open research practices were applied throughout the research process, links to data can be found throughout the document.

Date of Award	27 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Michael Smith (Supervisor), Liz Sillence (Supervisor), Zeb Sattar (Supervisor) & Catrin Borneskog- Sinclair (Supervisor)