Coping styles and personality domains related to menopausal stress

Purpose. Examine the role of coping styles and personality domains in relationship to stress associated with menopause. Data/Information. Data are from 170 women ages 45 to 54 who completed a mailed questionnaire and a telephone interview that assessed women's stress associated with menopause, coping style, personality, menopausal symptoms, depressive symptoms, and use of hormone replacement therapy. Results. Rating menopause as stressful was associated with higher levels of neuroticism, seeking social support, and avoidance, and lower levels of agreeableness in unadjusted analyses. In a multivariate model, menopausal symptoms, seeking social support, and neuroticism accounted for 21% of the variance in rating menopause as stressful. Conclusions. Health care providers treating women going through menopause should be aware that the stress response to the menopause transition is multifactorial and is associated with women's individual personalities and coping styles.