ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To find what vital events middle-aged women in our society most often experience and their influence as stress factors on physical health and subjective psychological well-being. DESIGN: A multivariant transversal study. SETTING: 5 primary care centres in Valencia and Alicante. PARTICIPANTS: 306 women chosen at random among those seen at these health centres. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Frequency analysis of vital events. Correlation analysis with questionnaires on physical symptoms and diseases, psychological well-being, work situation, emotional behaviour, sexuality and relationships with their partner. ANOVA: dividing the sample into 2 groups based on mean adaptive effort. The most common events numbered 23. The ANOVA showed a significant association between greater adaptive effort and negative emotional behaviour, personal control, material well-being, relationship with the partner, and physical and psychological symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The relevance of daily events as generators of stress was confirmed, as was the impact of these and major events on these women's physical and psychological health. The importance of attending women at this stage of their lives from an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective, which tackles the physiological, psychological and cultural features together, was shown.
