Women's images of midlife: Observations from the seattle midlife women's health study

Abstract

Our purpose in conducting this study was to determine how a cohort of women born between 1935 and 1955 defined midlife, and what midlife events they viewed as important, distressing, and satisfying. A random sample of women enrolled in the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study (n = 131) participated in a telephone interview about the meaning of midlife and important events occurring during the past year. They described midlife similarly to women from earlier birth cohorts with one important exception: the centrality of work and personal achievements in their lives. Contemporary midlife women's views of midlife reflect their roles in society.