Young Australian women failing the stress test
20 February 2001
Young women (aged 18-23) are experiencing higher levels of stress than their mothers’ and grandmothers’ generation did, according to interim research findings detailed in a book launched at the 4th Australian Women’s Health Conference in Adelaide.
The book, Women’s Health Australia: What do we know? What do we need to know?, details the first 5 years of what is the first, and largest, longitudinal study into women’s health undertaken in Australia.
Project manager Professor Christina Lee, from the University of Newcastle, said the 20-year study is being funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and involves a research team of more than 20 investigators from a broad range of disciplines, including sociology, epidemiology, psychology, anthropology, medicine, nutrition, demography and statistics.
The study involves about 40,000 Australian women in 3 age groups—their 20s, 50s and 70s—and will follow them over the next 15 years. It addresses a vast array of health issues, from women’s experiences with GPs to reproduction and gynaecology, smoking, dieting, body image, fatigue, leisure activities, family responsibilities, workplace stress, care-giving, domestic violence and widowhood.
Professor Lee said that the findings so far had been a surprise.
‘We were expecting the middle-aged group of women to have the higher levels of stress, with the amount of multi-roles they were undertaking, however it was the younger women who showed the high levels of anxiety—over jobs, education, career and finances,’ she said.
Rural women have also emerged as a group with particular needs. Women living in remote and rural areas face higher costs for their medical care and have access to fewer facilities.
‘We found that rural women tended to have their children earlier and had bigger families. Health services in the past had not targeted the specific needs of women in the country,’ said Professor Lee.
Government policy and initiatives aimed at improving healthcare access for country people have been one result of the project so far.
Last Reviewed: 23 February 2001
