Maladaptive schemas and psychological well-being in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Introduction
Menopause as an important event during women’s life has serious effects on their mental health. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and psychological well-being in postmenopausal and premenopausal women.

Material and methods
The research method was descriptive-correlative. The population of this study included menopausal and premenopausal women who were referred to five community centers in district 9 in Tehran in the spring of 2018. The statistical sample comprised 282 (45-55 years old) women who were divided into 142 postmenopausal and 140 premenopausal women selected through accessible sampling. In this study two questionnaires were filled out by sample groups: the Young Schema Questionnaire (2003) and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (1989) were applied. Spearman correlation test and multiple regression analysis were employed in order to analyze hypotheses of this study.

Results
The results indicated that the collection of schemas which were aimed at predicting psychological well-being in menopausal and premenopausal women were different (p ≤ 0.01). In premenopausal women isolationism, vulnerability, and subjugation schemas, and in postmenopausal women defectiveness/shame, isolationism, dependency, self-control, and approval-seeking schemas predicted psychological well-being.

Conclusions
Menopause can activate some passive schemas, and psychologists through making women aware of these change and using appropriate interventions can prevent a decrease well-being in them.