INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CREATIVE RESEARCH THOUGHTS · Sep 2026
Psychological Health Across Menopausal Stages: A Comparative Study of Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Well-Being
By Mukhopadhyay S, Ghosh SM
The present study aimed to compare anxiety, depressive symptoms, and mental well-being among premenopausal and postmenopausal women. A quantitative, comparative, cross-sectional research design was adopted. The sample comprised 100 women aged 40–60 years, including 50 premenopausal and 50 postmenopausal women, who were selected using purposive sampling based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Anxiety, depressive symptoms, and mental well-being were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), respectively. Descriptive statistics and independent-samples t tests were used to examine differences between the two groups, with statistical significance set at p < .05. The findings indicated a statistically significant difference in anxiety scores between premenopausal women (M = 42.36, SD = 7.84) and postmenopausal women (M = 47.82, SD = 8.16), t(98) = −3.43, p = .001, with postmenopausal women reporting higher anxiety scores. A statistically significant difference was also observed in depressive symptom scores, with postmenopausal women (M = 15.76, SD = 6.31) reporting higher scores than premenopausal women (M = 11.48, SD = 5.62), t(98) = −3.59, p < .001. In contrast, premenopausal women reported higher mental well-being scores (M = 49.24, SD = 6.72) than postmenopausal women (M = 44.18, SD = 7.31), t(98) = 3.65, p < .001. The findings demonstrate significant differences between premenopausal and postmenopausal women across anxiety, depressive symptoms, and mental well-being. However, given the cross-sectional design and purposive sampling approach, the findings indicate group differences rather than causal effects of menopausal status. The study highlights the importance of considering both psychological distress and positive mental well-being when assessing psychological health among women across different reproductive stages. Keywords: anxiety; depressive symptoms; mental well-being; menopause; postmenopause; premenopause; women