Self-awareness and the evaluation of hot flash severity: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the association of two dimensions of self-awareness with hot flash (HF) severity.

Methods: A subset of women from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study (N = 232) provided data for these analyses. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate two dimensions of self-awareness (Internal States Awareness [ISA] and Self-Reflectiveness [SR]), and secondary factors of perceived stress, anxiety, and attitudes toward menopause as continuous with earlier life, health perceptions, and menopausal stage with respect to HF severity.