1. Changing Bodies: Women’s Embodied Experiences of the Menopausal Transition.
Gemma Pearce1, Dr. Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani1,
Professor Joan Duda1 & Professor Jim McKenna2
1 University of Birmingham, 2 Leeds Metropolitan University
Introduction
Profiles of Change
An idiographic profile analysis was employed to explore participants’ embodied experiences of change in body image threats.
Profile 1 – menopausal symptoms increased body image threats. This resulted in increased body image concerns due to feelings of decreased body functioning, higher distress and ageing anxiety.
Profile 2 - the removal of menstruation, pregnancy and pre-hysterectomy illness concerns reduce body image threats and concerns resulting in feelings of liberation and motivation to reinvest in appearance.
Profile 3 - a range of positive and negative bodily changes with fluctuating body image experiences to match.
Natural transition: Women had a longer period of time to come to terms with the transition and learn how to cope with increasing body image threats.
Hysterectomy: The quick transition from pre- to post- menopause resulted in women having to cope with more changes in less time, making a positive transition better and a negative transition worse.
Body image is “a multifaceted psychological experience of embodiment” (Cash, 2004, p1). Previous research focuses on adolescents and young adults (Tiggemann, 2004) and injury / disease (Cash, 2004).
Body image threats increase psychological, emotional and physical burdens (Snyder & Dinoff, 1999). Strategies to cope with these threats include avoidance, appearance fixing and positive rational acceptance but this research has only investigated how young adults cope (Cash, Santos & Flemming, 2005)
“The menopause may make a woman feel that her once reliable body is out of control” (Chrysler & Ghiz, 1993, p70).
This can lead to an increase in body image threats in some women. Most importantly in the context of this study, high levels of body image threats can have negative ramifications for health behaviours (including physical activity) and therefore also psychological health.
Overall Themes
The changing embodied experiences through the menopausal transitions were influenced by the below themes:
Gynaecological illness
Menopausal symptoms
Vitality fluctuations
Appearance contingent self-worth
Self presentational concerns
Perceived bodily control
Ability to cope
Aim
To provide a rich account of the body image experiences in women during the surgically-induced (hysterectomy) and natural menopausal transition.
To examine how body image threats change over the menopausal transition and how women cope with these changes.
Conclusion
Method
This study highlights the labile nature of body image experiences in menopausal women and the importance of perceived attractiveness and appearance contingent self-worth on adapting positively to changes. These findings have important implications for menopausal women’s wellbeing and therefore are a valuable consideration for practitioners and in the design of future interventions.
16 female participants
(8 = hysterectomy,
8 = natural menopause).
Recruited from community advertisements.
Online semi-structured interviews using MSN Messenger.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was adopted.
References
Cash, T. F. (2004). Body image: past, present, and future. Body Image, 1, 1-5.
Cash, T. F., Santos, M. T. & Flemming, E. F. (2005).Coping with body-image threats and challenges: validation of the Body Image Coping Strategies Inventory. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 58,
Chrisler, J.C., & Ghiz, L. (1993). Body image issues of older women. Women and Therapy, 14:
Smith, J.A. (1996). Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: using interpretive phenomenological analysis in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 11(2),
Snyder, C. F. & Dinoff, B. L. (1999) Coping: where have you been? In: Snyder, C. R. (Eds.) Coping: the psychology of what works. (pp. 3-19). New York: Oxford University Press.
Tiggemann, M. (2004). Body image across the adult life span: stability and change. Body Image, 1,