TITLE:
Patterns of the Risk for Depression among Midlife Women: The SWAN Study
AUTHORS:
Ziye Wang
KEYWORDS:
Midlife Women, Menopause, Depression, Sleep, Health, The SWAN Study
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.16 No.9,
September
24,
2025
ABSTRACT: Midlife women are particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms as well as other health challenges such as sleep disturbances and vasomotor symptoms. This paper investigates the differences in patterns and demographic distributions between the group of midlife women with an elevated risk for depression versus the group without. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale was used to evaluate risk for depression across eleven assessments from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Women with higher risk for depression were more likely to report poorer sleep satisfaction and reduced sleep efficiency among other health challenges. The implications and limitations of this study as well as possible future directions were also discussed.