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Life-course perspectives and family relationships in community health
Published in Ben Y.F. Fong, Martin C.S. Wong, The Routledge Handbook of Public Health and the Community, 2021
Yim Fan Chan, Candy Yuen Yee Tsoi
After a long course of raising children, the children grow up and leave the family. Each member of the couple must relearn his/her roles. The empty nest syndrome can be stressful. However, it is also the chance for the couple to refocus on each other.
An Investigation of the Nature of the Menopausal Experience: Attitude Toward Menopause, Recent Life Change, Coping Method, and Number and Frequency of Symptoms in Menopausal Women
Published in Diana L. Taylor, Nancy F. Woods, Menstruation, Health, and Illness, 2019
To date, the literature about the menopausal women has focused on life events that may occur at the time of menopause (i.e., grown children leaving home) (Bart, 1972; Crawford & Hooper, 1973). An emphasis on loss—of reproductive function, of children—that has come to label this time in a women’s life has resulted in a failure to systematically examine the psychological and social as well as physiological phenomena of menopause (MacPherson, 1981). Thus the “empty nest syndrome” has become synonymous with menopause. It is this sense of loss or “emptiness” that focuses on and reinforces a negative view of menopause. To what extent does the menopausal women share this view of the menopause as a loss, and how does this influence the experience of menopausal symptoms?
The Consultation Expertise Model
Published in Peter Worrall, Adrian French, Les Ashton, Justin Allen, Advanced Consulting In Family Medicine, 2018
Peter Worrall, Adrian French, Les Ashton
This is a lady who came in to see me with a combination of features that could point either to the menopause or depression. But her presenting feature originally had been being tired all the time – she had seen a doctor about that and had been investigated and nothing had been found. There had been a further discussion about the menopause with another doctor and a discussion about depression with yet another doctor. When she came to see me I had the advantage of knowing that each of those had really not hit. Discussing what had happened so far and where it had got her, I had one of those flash moments when you think – ‘OK I’m going to try something here’. I consciously thought how to introduce it, because it’s a tricky topic. One of my medical school professors used to say that many menopausal symptoms weren’t treatable with HRT because they have ‘empty nest syndrome’. Take someone who has a wonderful torrid courtship, they are in love, then they get married and the marriage changes to a new level of relationship. The children come along and then, coincidently around the time of the menopause, the children leave home or don’t need the parents any longer. The parents haven’t reformed their relationship and it can seem (this may be stereotyping) that many women suffer from empty nest syndrome.
Psychological Resilience Level after Cognitive-Behavior Therapy in Old People with Empty Nest Syndrome - A single-case Experimental Design
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2023
Mitra Kabiri, Kourosh Namdari, Ahmad Abedi
Empty nest syndrome appears to be particularly traumatic in Iranian families since the eldest son is traditionally expected to stay at home, even after marriage, because the son and daughter-in-law provide an important source of support for aging parents. Iranian parents, therefore, may convert their large houses into small apartment units to live in the same building with their married children. Empty nest syndrome in Iranians may confer a broader dissatisfaction with rapid cultural changes in individualistic values that cause a growing number of sons to choose to live separately. Empty nest syndromecondition is more prevalent in single-parent families and families with low marital satisfaction (Mahdiyar, Khayyer, & Hosseini, 2014), who tend to forget their own identity and devote themselves to their children (Rasekh Jahromi et al., 2021). Thus, as their children leave the nest, they may face an existential crisis. Many Iranian women, in particular, grieve for the loss of their motherhood role (Qorbani et al., 2022).
The effect of square dance on family cohesion and subjective well-being of middle-aged and empty-nest women in China
Published in Health Care for Women International, 2021
Wenting Xie, Wei-Wen Chen, Luran Zhang
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, middle age is the period of human adulthood that precedes the onset of old age, generally defined as being between 45 and 59 years old. The so-called “empty-nest syndrome” is the effect of parents’ losing their major roles of taking care of children after children’s departure from home, resulting in feelings of depression and loneliness, especially among mothers (Fahrenberg, 1986). Combining the above two definitions, in this study, we defined middle-aged and empty-nest women (MAENW) as women between 45 and 59 years old whose children do not live with them.
Home drinking in women over 30 years of age. Findings from an internet survey in England
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2021
Martha Canfield, Valerie Chandler, John H. Foster
Several reasons for shifts in levels and patterns of drinking among women have been proposed. The empty nest syndrome has been reported in a number of media articles as an explanation for the increase in women’s drinking after their children had left home (Spencer, 2015). Patterson et al. (2016) found that women’s binge drinking has a higher media profile than men’s and was often portrayed young women as “out of control, putting themselves in danger, harming their physical appearance and burdening men” with accompanying moralistic judgments. The Institute of Alcohol Studies (2017) suggest that this may have resulted in older generations of women regarding their own drinking as non-problematic as they do not fit the profile of a “binge drinker.” Another explanation for increase in women drinking is associated with the greater numbers of women in the work force compared to previous generations. This has led to a generation of women with greater affluence, independence, and disposable income than previous ones (Smith & Foxcroft, 2009). Alternatively, the use of alcohol may be a mechanism of coping with the burden of caring for children and/or older parents. In this context, drinking might represent a “temporary return to a younger, carefree version of themselves” (Emslie et al., 2015, p. 437). Cunningham (2017) sets out many of these factors in a press article highlighting how the promotion of alcohol was linked to Christmas and targeted at women, who are seen as controlling most of the spending. There were special drinks such as prosecco and gins aimed at women and the key message was alcohol was integral to enjoying Christmas. Alcohol is marketed at women, not exclusively, by promoting it as fashionable, sophisticated, and fun (European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Marketing, 2008). One technique that is often used is to advertise alcohol alongside goods clearly aimed at women, such as handbags, make-up, hair care products and shoes – once more promoting a message of fun and sophistication.