Life satisfaction and related socio-demographic factors during female midlife

To assess life satisfaction and related factors in middle-aged Spanish women. Method: This was a cross-sectional study including 235 women aged 40 to 65, living in Granada(Spain), healthy companions of patients visiting the obstetrics and gynecology clinics. Theycompleted the Diener Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Menopause Rating Scale, the PerceivedStress Scale, the Insomnia Severity Index and a sociodemographic questionnaire containingpersonal and partner data. Internal consistency of each tool was also calculated. Results: Almost two-thirds (61.3%) of the women were postmenopausal, and 43.8% had abdominal obesity, 36.6% had insomnia, 18.7% had poor menopause-related quality of life, 31.9% performed regular exercise, and 5.1% had severe financial problems. Life satisfaction showedsignificant positive correlations (Spearman's test) with female and male age, and inverse correlations with menopause-related quality of life, perceived stress and insomnia. In the multiplelinear regression analysis, high life satisfaction is positively correlated with having a partnerwho performed exercise, and inversely with having work problems, perceived stress and thesuspicion of partner infidelity. These factors explained 40% of the variance of the multipleregression analysis for life satisfaction in middle- aged women. Conclusion: Life satisfaction is a construct related to perceived stress, work problems, andhaving a partner, while aspects of menopause and general health had no significant influence. (C) Elsevier Espana, S. L. U. All rights reserved.