Students’ Representations of Menopause and Perimenopause: Out of Control Bodies and Empathetic Expert Doctors

Abstract Representations of peri/menopause are influential in relation to how is understood and peri/menopausal women perceived, both which have important implications for health wellbeing. In this paper, we report results from a story completion study with 102 undergraduate psychology students. Participants were invited write response fictional scenario about woman. Thematic analysis was used construct two themes. the first theme, Women’s bodies out control , students represented women’s as unpredictable uncontrollable. second Doctors empathetic experts: A (biomedical) problem need (medical) intervention demonstrate participants wrote stories that portrayed medical be easily effectively resolved by doctor. These doctors consistently characterized experts peri/menopause. We consider extent these might (or not) map onto lived experiences drawing on extant literature. Our contribute understandings young people represent women. educators ensuring menopause included their curricula, professionals practice.