The aim of this thesis is to explore rural women’s midlife experiences and interrogate the roles of health, social and community factors in these. In the cultural imagination, midlife signifies the onset of ageing and is thus framed in a discourse of decline. For women, it is often considered in terms of menopause and the end of fecundity and fertility. I propose that women’s experience of midlife is much broader than this; instead, it is characterised by transformation in multiple domains and health status is important. I suggest that the continuity theory of ageing is useful when conceptualising the life course. The concept of habitus enables exploration of how identity is re/constructed during the ageing process in response to changing bodily circumstances, such as health problems. (For complete abstract open document)

This exploratory qualitative study seeks to describe and understand the career decision-making process of unemployed American women who make up the younger cohort of the baby boom generation, namely those born between 1955 and 1964. Career decision making is a complex process involving a number of generational characteristics as well as personal and economic considerations. Unemployment further complicates this process, especially in the decade prior to receiving retirement benefits. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze semi-structured interviews with eight unemployed younger baby boom women to investigate how their thoughts, assumptions, and opinions affect their career decision-making experience. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model (2005), Erikson's lifespan theory (1959), and selected career development theories provide lenses through which these women's experiences can be understood. Eight themes emerged from the data, including the following: unemployment as a preparation period; career aspirations; digital natives; age discrimination; bioecological systems influence; generativity vs. stagnation; identity expressed in career decision making; and influence of intuition, chance, and personal factors. The findings suggest that the women used the period of unemployment to become self-aware and thoughtful about future career decision making, and enhance their computer as well as career decision making skills. Implications for theory and counseling practice as well as suggestions for future research are provided. / School of Education; / Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES) / PhD; / Dissertation;

This research explores how midlife women found the strength and resilience that enabled them to rebound and grow as they negotiated significant life challenges in their marriage, and with their children, parents, careers, and health. Using a family resilience framework grounded in systems theory with a feminist perspective, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 18 diverse women between the ages of 40 and 60 years in different regions of the United States. The phenomenological method of inquiry allowed the researcher to gather the experiences of midlife women in order to understand the protective processes of resilience for overcoming adversity. Three research questions guided this study: (1) How have women dealt with an adverse experience or challenging transition in their adult married life and where did the strength or resilience they needed to rise above it come from? (2) How did they use their resilience in challenging situations? (3) How did this challenging experience influence their marriage and how was the experience affected by their marriage? Results suggest that the participants' core beliefs facilitated how they made meaning of their struggle and influenced their response to their challenges. The themes they discussed fell into beliefs that were organized as affiliative values, facilitative beliefs and transcendent spiritual beliefs. These belief systems described how they made sense of their challenges. Themes related to the importance of connectedness and relationships also occurred frequently in the narratives of these midlife women as they developed resilience. As expected, marriage was important to the majority of the women as they discussed the importance of emotional support, but their sense of well-being was also greatly influenced by other close relationships in their communities with friends, family, children, and role models. Work and education emerged as significant themes in the women's appraisal of their challenges, beliefs, and connectedness as they described their sense of resilience. Resilience was fostered when these women made connections between their past, present, and future and integrated their experiences, their beliefs, relationships, and resources. / Ph. D.

The economic, demographic and social changes of the latter half of the C20th have influenced the experience of individuals now at 'midlife'. Arguably the impact of these changes has been more profound for women; specifically in the UK for those educated to be the wives, mothers and carers of industrial Britain (Newsom, 1963). Now around 50 years old this group of women are likely to experience a lengthy period of 'postmaternity' (Sheriff and Weatherall, 2009) extending to over thirty years in many cases. This research considers the experience of this metaphorically entitled 'telescopic' cohort (Goldstein and Schlag, 1999). The major corpus of age related research assumes a linear developmental progression of life stages (Erikson, 1951, 1968; Gould, 1978; Levinson, 1978; Levinson, 1996; Klohnen et al., 1996; Miner-Rubinio, 2004). Drawing on life course theory (Elder, 1995; Runyan, 1982; Super, 1980) enables this research to explore how women may have changed assumptions about themselves and their expectations as the social world has changed around them, moreover offers an alternative to the essentialist, linear, deterministic models of ageing. This feminist poststructuralist examination of the experience of women at 'midlife' is divided into two parts; firstly the 'lived life' which examines demographic changes, and drawing on material from 'Jackie' magazine, considers discourses of femininity and the expectations for, and of, girls. The 'told story' is then explored using narrative interview material. How women 'story' their lives and their understanding of 'self' at midlife is examined within the context of the changing world and their ageing bodies. The research revealed that the experience of 'midlife' for this cohort of women is narrated as a time of change in social circumstances with some 'gains' and some 'losses', however it is not storied as a time of inevitable 'crisis'. Moreover despite the plethora of literature portraying the menopause as problematic, this was not supported by the interview material.

Midlife women are vulnerable to developing obesity. Both sleep timing and negative emotion are risk factors, yet limited research has explored their role on weight outcomes in this population. The current investigation explored the association of sleep timing (i.e., mean sleep time, sleep time variability) and obesity (i.e., BMI, waist circumference) in midlife women, considering emotional pathways (i.e., depressive symptoms, anger) that might mediate this association. PROCESS parallel mediation models assessed direct and indirect pathways. In follow-up analyses, sleep duration was explored as an indirect pathway linking sleep timing to obesity. Results demonstrated that sleep timing does not directly predict obesity. Emotion was also not a significant indirect pathway. Conversely, sleep duration emerged as an indirect link in the sleep timing and obesity association. Future work is needed to further disentangle the impact of sleep on weight in midlife women using prospective, well-controlled studies, implementing daily assessments of sleep behavior.

This study is a very personal reflection. The purpose of the study is to illuminate how following the calling of my heart led to a deeper passion in my own work whereupon I realized my natural and limitless creative potential. It is a blending of my narrative with research conducted over a ten year time period on midlife women, work, and the search for passion within. The capacity and fostering of creativity became a focus in my writing because that is exactly where my spirit has led me. It has been my personal joy to put something in this world that was not there before. My personal story is my unique Scholarly Personal Narrative, but the story itself and the constructs embedded within on midlife women moving beyond the feminine mystique to fulfill their career dreams by embracing their passion and seeking creativity is universal to many women. I believe that my experiences are both generalizable and transferable and will serve as a beacon of light in guiding other midlife women in their own journey to follow their dreams and nurture their true self. Scholarly Personal Narrative was used to blend my experiences with research on women's identity, midlife, reinventing careers, opting-out, on-ramps for women returning to work and expressing creativity. My narrative speaks to how specific events in my life, as in many women's lives, have contributed to finding my own authentic voice, navigating a course of rediscovery, and ultimately realizing the personal power of knowing you are empowered. Throughout my writing I highlight that midlife is a unique period of time. I believe it can be claustrophobic and it can be ripe with opportunity and adventure. If you allow it, this time of life affords an opportunity for self-discovery and unanticipated growth. Midlife is a time to dig deep in examining our life experiences to extrapolate meaning. My meanings derived combined with my dreams within has led me in finding my true creative calling through my work. But, I believe that we each are the only ones who can find the meaning in and through our life experiences because they both form and inform our own truth. It became about harmonizing creative development, my identity, and work to fuel major change. Universal themes that emerge include recognizing one's creativity has worth, viewing future work life as an opportunity to incorporate that with which we are passionate, and embracing midlife as a time for positive personal growth and change. It is a complex narrative, but in finding the truth, I became open to building on the successes, experiences, and lessons of my past to pursue work that excites, enriches, and motivates me. Findings suggest that midlife is a crucial time of personal and professional growth. Findings also suggest many highly educated women have non-linear career paths which in turn deepen our self-understanding moving us toward authenticity and allowing ourselves to engage in work that matters to us. Embracing creativity in midlife, through our work. can fill us with both passion and purpose and ultimately lead us on a magical journey in discovering our own truth.

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Nova Scotia is one of the least active provinces in Canada and is experiencing rising levels of obesity and related diseases. Women in Canada have low rates of participation in physical activity, despite the many benefits. The purpose of this research was to develop an understanding of how the built, natural and social environments act as enablers and barriers to the use of active transportation for midlife women. A qualitative, grounded theory approach was used in conjunction with a feminist perspective to explore the research topic. Findings suggest that the characteristics of the route and region, the presence or lack of support, and the perceived value and benefits of active transportation affect the type of transportation mode that is selected for commuting. Findings also reveal the ways that women respond to and overcome barriers. Implications for health promotion and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to understand the factors that encourage midlife women to make exercise and dietary changes, the prevalence of those changes, the process by which women make them, the factors that support or impede them, and how we can enhance women’s capacity to make health behaviour changes in midlife. Since the literature highlighted the importance of self-efficacy in changing health behaviour, and of health-related quality of life as a widely recognized measure of women’s mental and physical wellbeing, the study sought to understand the relationship between exercise and dietary self-efficacy, health behaviour change and health-related quality of life (SF-36), by testing a modified version of Bandura’s 1977 and 2002/2004b models of self-efficacy. The methodology involved postal surveys as well as semi-structured interviews with a subsample of the women who completed the survey. Surveys were sent to 866 women aged 51-66 years from rural and urban locations in Queensland, Australia. Five hundred and sixty-four (69%) were completed and returned. Survey data was analysed using descriptive and bivariate statistics and structural equation modeling. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews. The results confirmed that midlife is a significant time for women to make positive health behaviour changes. Almost 40% of women made a change to their exercise and around 60% made a dietary change since turning 40. The main exercise change was doing more walking and the most common dietary change was reducing fat intake. Self-efficacy was shown to be a key influence on whether women made positive changes to their health in midlife. In the relationship between health behaviour change and health-related quality of life, making a positive change to exercise was significantly related to physical but not mental health, and making a dietary change was not related to either physical or mental health. Body mass index was shown to be an important influence on both self-efficacy and health-related quality of life (particularly physical health). Interviews were conducted with 29 of the participants. Interview data reinforced that the main motivations to make a positive health behaviour change among midlife women were being overweight, having an injury or being diagnosed with an illness or health condition. Witnessing the hardship experienced by others with a degenerative disease could also prompt a positive behaviour change. Successful changes mainly involved modifying existing practices and repeating new behaviours until they became part of the daily routine. The main facilitators of health behaviour change were having positive role models, having more time due to retirement, and having support from significant others (such as husbands), health professionals and organizations such as Weight Watchers. The main obstacles to making changes were work, care giving, illness and injury. Bandura’s (1977, 2000/2004b) model was partially supported, but the cross-sectional nature of the study may have been a limitation in demonstrating all aspects of the self-efficacy process. In summary, women are willing to make positive health behaviour changes in midlife, but they need education and support to have those changes be effective. It is anticipated that this research will lead to a greater understanding of the significance of midlife as a time for making healthy lifestyle changes that have the potential to improve women’s health and quality of life in later years.

本研究採質性研究（qualitative research）之深度晤談法（indepth interview）進行資料收集，再以紮根理論方法進行文本分析，共訪12位中年女性，本研究結果如下： 一、照顧家中失能老人中年女性之照顧經驗與感受 個案因「角色認同、婚姻綁樁、反哺回饋及無法承受之罪」承接照顧責任，面臨「專業照護技能學習、人際關係緊張疏離、生活陷入窘迫、家人支援不足」等壓力；透過「修正照顧認知、尋找照顧意義、暫離照護情境」調適壓力；家庭照護政策未見具體效益。 二、照顧家中失能老人中年女性之生命經驗 （一）身心知覺 個案出現身心變化，關心「健康」；對身體變化未積極面對。視更年期為正常發展，對荷爾蒙等醫療處置態度保守；性生活漸入佳境，部分個案偏重心靈契合。 （二）家庭關係 夫妻角色清楚分工，情感依附互補隨時間而質變，婚姻風暴者多已迎刃而解，夫妻做到「獨留心靈空間、相近的價值觀及穩定的經濟基礎」婚姻狀態即非常滿意；先生參與家中特殊兒童的照顧，影響婚姻滿意度。個案親子關係頗佳，隨年齡增加而變化；角色功能多似朋友，成人期親子關係轉為「互惠」。 （三）自我發展 個案自我圖像偏重社會我、心理我的描述，人際互動呈現多元自我，生命經驗中的依序或脫序事件均為中年女性之人生轉捩點，但更年期或停經則非其人生重要里程碑。 三、照顧家中失能老人對中年女性生命經驗之影響 照顧工作影響身心變化；影響夫妻「親密互動」及「依附關係」；對親子關係產生「連累子女、身教典範、矛盾依附」三項結果；對自我發展的「自我實現」及「老年與死亡準備」產生影響。 關鍵字：中年女性照顧者；生命經驗；失能老人；身心知覺；家庭關係；自我發展。 / The main purpose of this study was to explore the life experiences of midlife women who caring disabled elders at home. Twelve midlife women participated in this research. In this study, the semi-structure and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Their answers were audio-taped as data collection. Ground theory analysis was used to analyze the data. The major findings were divided into three parts according the purposes of this study as follows: （1） The experience and perception of caring disabled elders which we found in this study： The reasons of midlife women caring disabled elders were the sense of responsibility, marriage connection, repay the kindness from disabled elders and didn’t want to be a guilty person. The stressors of caring disabled elders were short of homecare skills, the strain of interpersonal relationship, distress of daily life and deficiency of family support. The coping of the stressors were modifying the cognition of caring responsibility, finding the meanings of caring, and leaving the caring setting for a while. In this study, we didn’t find the efficacy of family care polity. （2）The life experience of mid-age women were divided into three parts： The first part result is psychosomatic perception, we found that women are going through psychosomatic change and more concerned about health. Climacteric is just a nature event for them, most mid-age women never minded that and refuse treatment by medicine. They also expressed the sexual relationship with their husbands are improving in the midlife. The second part is family relationship of the midlife women, we found the marital relations and parent-child relations were dynamic and changeable. The couples had the clear division of gender role, who had the conflicts and were handled finally. Free mind, independent, similar value and stable income were important key points of marriage satisfaction. The midlife women have good parent-child relationships who treat their children as friend. The relationship between midlife women and their adult children turn into mutual benefits. The third part is self development of the midlife women, we ask midlife women to descript themselves focusing on social self and psychological self. We found multiple dimensions of self when women interact with others . All of the twelve mid-age women thought that off time events or on time events are both the turn points in their life-cycle, but climacteric or menopause is not. It is just a nature event. （3）The influence of caring disabled elder for the life experience of midlife women： Caring disabled elder induced some psychosomatic symptoms, disturbing the intimate relations and emotion bond of couples. The influence of caring disabled elder for the parent-child relationships were children of midlife women need to help the caring work, mid-age women were the role model of their children and induced the contradiction between midlife women and their children. In the aspect of self development, caring disabled elder interrupted their plans of the future, reminded mid-age women to prepare their elder life and thinking about death issue. Key words：midlife women; caregiver; life experience; disabled elders; psychosomatic perception; family relationship; self development.