---
title: Do menstrual problems and poor sleep affect mood and thinking in teenage girls?
description: Yes. Clear links exist between menstrual pain or PMS symptoms and anxiety, depression, and social problems in adolescent girls. Sleep also matters. Girls with
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/0298-associations-between-sleep-menstrual-problems-and-affective-social-and-2025/
---

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- Do menstrual problems and poor sleep affect mood and thinking in teenage girls?

Survey study, 2025

# Do menstrual problems and poor sleep affect mood and thinking in teenage girls?

Yes. Clear links exist between menstrual pain or PMS symptoms and anxiety, depression, and social problems in adolescent girls. Sleep also matters. Girls with later bedtimes or shorter sleep plus pain had worse mood and thinking problems.

 Moderate study design

2,131 adolescent girls in the US, ages 12-15 (average 13)

## What they did

Researchers studied 2,131 girls aged 12-15 from an ongoing health study. They asked girls about their sleep times and menstrual pain and PMS. Parents reported on the girls' mood, anxiety, stress, and thinking abilities.

## What they found

Girls with worse PMS had higher anxiety, depression, stress, physical complaints, social problems, and slower thinking. Girls with menstrual pain had similar problems except thinking was not affected. Later bedtimes strengthened pain's link to anxiety and depression. Shorter sleep strengthened pain's link to slower thinking.

## What it means for you

Menstrual problems significantly affect how adolescent girls feel and function at school and socially. Sleep timing matters too. Addressing both sleep and menstrual health could improve teenage girls' wellbeing. The study shows correlation only, not cause and effect.

2131

Girls studied

13.09

Average age

12-15

Age range

## About the study

Original title 0298 Associations Between Sleep, Menstrual Problems, and Affective, Social, and Cognitive Functioning in Adolescent Girls Authors Evelyn Perez-Amparan, Ruby Fan, Hannah Giarrusso et al. Journal SLEEP Year 2025 Study design Survey study What was tested Sleep patterns and menstrual problems and their relationship (observational) Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaf090.0298](https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaf090.0298)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

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