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A Daily Process Approach to Depict Satisfaction with Life during the Menopausal Transition: Physical (In)activity, Symptoms, and Neuroticism

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Abstract

The main objectives of the present study were (1) to examine the between- and within-person association of physical (in)activity and satisfaction with life (SWL), and (2) to identify relevant top-down and bottom-up influences associated with daily well-being in menopausal women using a daily process approach. As part of a 21-day diary study, community-dwelling middle-aged women (N = 103; age range 40–60 years) wore an accelerometer for the objective assessment of physical activity and completed daily Internet surveys at the end of their day. Multilevel analyses indicated the between-person effects of physical activity on SWL were negligent but that on days when a woman was more physically active than her usual, she reported greater SWL (B = 12.01, p < .05). Sedentary behavior did not demonstrate a between- or within-person association with SWL. Women also experienced reduced SWL on days when greater symptom burden was reported (B = −2.47, p < .05). Neuroticism also emerged as a top-down personality trait with a negative relation to SWL (B = −1.47, p < .05). Higher levels of neuroticism predicted reduced daily life satisfaction particularly on days characterized by heightened symptom burden (B = −0.26, p < .05). In this sample of midlife women, daily physical activity had a positive influence on SWL, whereas daily symptom burden and the personality trait of neuroticism had detrimental consequences on a woman’s daily well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, 26 Recreation Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Moé Kishida & Steriani Elavsky

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  1. Moé Kishida
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  2. Steriani Elavsky
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Correspondence to Moé Kishida.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Kishida, M., Elavsky, S. A Daily Process Approach to Depict Satisfaction with Life during the Menopausal Transition: Physical (In)activity, Symptoms, and Neuroticism. J Happiness Stud 18, 631–645 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9743-z

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