ORIGINAL ARTICLE Factors Contributing to Depression during Peri Menopause: Findings of a Pakistani Sample Farhat Jamil 1,2 & Ruhi Khalid 2 Published online: 22 October 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract The present study aimed to identify the role of dif- ferent factors in menopausal depression in Pakistani women. We hypothesized that physical activity, regular exercise, social support, and attitudes towards aging and menopause would predict menopausal depression in women going through perimenopause. The sample consisted of 110 women (M age = 47.93 years) going through natural perimenopause. The Menopausal Symptoms Scale (Nadeem and Khalid 2012) and Social Support Questionnaire (Sarason et al. 1987) were administered along with a demographic question- naire. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The results showed that higher physical activity level, satisfactory relationships with husband, and availability of social support significantly predicted lower menopause- related depression. However, satisfaction with social support did not significantly predict menopausal depression. We also observed that positive attitude towards aging and menopause was significantly correlated with decreased menopausal de- pression. The implications for the need to promote awareness among health professionals and the general population about menopausal symptoms in Pakistani women to improve their quality of life are discussed. Keywords Menopausal depression . Menopausal symptom scale . Exercise . Physical activity . Social support . Attitude towards aging and menopause Menopause is a natural biological phenomenon and a period of transition that every woman has to go through in her mid- years. This phenomenon is characterized by cessation of men- struation in women who have intact ovaries and uterus. However, this particular period of a woman’ s life is not always smooth; rather it can include various negative emotional, psy- chological, physical, and behavioral symptoms that differ in their occurrence and frequency in each woman (Garcia- Portilla 2009). Depression is one of the common symptoms presented at menopause. It is reflected in many ways like gloomy mood, tearfulness, loss of interest in usual activities, weariness, sleep disturbance, and difficulty concentrating, and it affects a woman’ s ability to experience normal mood states. This kind of depression is more likely if a woman has a history of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) or postpartum depression (Coyne et al. 1999). Depression has been studied extensively within the context of menopause and has been recurrently linked to the perimen- opausal stage, which is also known as late menopausal stage (Avis et al. 2004; Deeks 2003; Hardy and Kuh 2005). Menopausal depression is a particularly debilitating syn- drome, accounting for high incidence rates particularly in the perimenopausal phase. Avis et al. (1994) conducted a longi- tudinal follow-up survey with a cohort of 2565 U.S. women from the Massachusetts Women’ s Health Study. They con- cluded that longer menopausal transition was associated with increased risk of depression. Similarly, Freeman et al. (2006) explored association of hormones and menopausal status with depressed mood in an 8-year longitudinal study. Their data were derived from Penn Ovarian Aging Study and their * Farhat Jamil Farhat.nadeem@bnu.edu.pk Ruhi Khalid rkhalid@bnu.edu.pk 1 Department of Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan 2 Present address: Institute of Psychology, Beaconhouse National University, 13km off Raiwind Road Near Jati Umrah, Lahore, Pakistan Sex Roles (2016) 75:612–622 DOI 10.1007/s11199-016-0690-2