A cross cultural comparison of climacteric symptoms, self esteem, and perceived social support between Mosuo women and Han Chinese women
Objective:This cross cultural study aimed to compare climacteric symptoms, self esteem, and perceived social support between Mosuo and Han Chinese women, and to explore the interaction between culture and climacteric symptoms. Mosuo is a Chinese minority group with a matriarchal structure, and Han Chinese is the majority ethnic group in China with a patriarchal structure. Methods:Through convenience sampling, 54 Mosuo women and 52 Han Chinese women between 40 and 60 years of age completed the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Menopause Rating Scale, the Self Esteem Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Scale. Results:Compared with Han Chinese women, Mosuo women scored lower on the psychological (P 0.001) and the somato vegetative (P 0.047) subscales of the Menopause Rating Scale, but higher on the Self Esteem Scale (P 0.006) and the "support from family" subscale of the Perceived Social Support Scale (P 0.004) Multiple linear regressions indicated that minority ethnicity &bgr; 0.207, P 0.016) was one of the predictive variables of psychological symptoms severity. Referring to the severity of all symptoms, predictive variables were: perceived support from family &bgr; 0.210, P 0.017) self esteem &bgr; 0.320, P 0.001) previous history of premenstrual syndrome &bgr; 0.293, P 0.001) number of family members &bgr; 0.229, P 0.003) and family income &bgr; 0.173, P 0.028) Conclusions:Differences in climacteric symptoms were found between two groups. Cultural variables such as familial structure, women's self esteem, and perceived social support were correlated with symptomatology.
Menopause