THE ROLE OF SPOUSAL SUPPORT IN MITIGATION OF MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND FOSTERING PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEING AMONG MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN

Background: Menopause is a major biopsychosocial milestone in a woman’s life, marked by physiological, emotional, and social changes that can impair quality of life. In patriarchal and culturally conservative societies such as Pakistan, menopause remains a stigmatized and often neglected topic, resulting in inadequate awareness and limited social support. The absence of empathetic spousal involvement may aggravate depressive symptoms and psychological distress, underscoring the critical need to understand the role of spousal support in promoting psychosocial well-being during this transition. Objective: The study aimed to examine the association between menopausal symptomatology, spousal support, and psychosocial well-being among middle-aged women, emphasizing how spousal support mitigates menopausal distress and enhances mental health outcomes. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was adopted, involving 250 married women aged 45–60 years (M = 51.70, SD = 4.54) recruited from public and private healthcare institutions and gynecology clinics in Islamabad and Rawalpindi through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using standardized tools: the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) (1), the Menopausal Spousal Support Questionnaire (MSSQ) (2), and the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form (MHC-SF) (3). Descriptive and inferential analyses, including Pearson correlations and multiple regression, were performed using SPSS version 16. Results: Findings revealed that 63.6% of participants were postmenopausal, while 36.4% were perimenopausal. A significant positive relationship was observed between spousal support and psychosocial well-being (r = .74, p < .001), whereas menopausal symptomatology showed a negative correlation (r = –.25, p < .001). Regression analysis indicated that spousal support strongly predicted psychosocial well-being (β = .61, p < .001) and menopausal symptoms were significant negative predictors (β = –.28, p < .001), accounting for 35.7% of variance in well-being (R² = .357). Women with higher education reported better adaptation and emotional balance, while those with more children experienced lower psychological well-being. Conclusion: The study highlights that empathetic spousal support substantially improves psychosocial well-being and mitigates the adverse effects of menopausal symptoms. These findings emphasize the necessity for culturally sensitive, family-centered interventions integrating spousal education to enhance women’s midlife mental health and quality of life in Pakistani settings.