Survey study, 2014
Do women whose depression started early experience more premenstrual symptoms?
Yes. Women with depression that started at an earlier age were more likely to have premenstrual symptoms. Because data was collected by recall, we cannot be sure about timing or whether premenstrual symptoms came before or after the depression.
What they did
Analysis of data from the CONVERGE project studying Han Chinese women with recurrent major depression. Combined analysis of 6017 women total (1848 in phase I and 4169 in phase II). Used regression models to find associations between age depression started and various clinical features including premenstrual symptoms.
What they found
Women whose depression began at an earlier age showed more severe, recurrent and chronic illness, higher neuroticism, greater family history of mental illness and more psychiatric comorbidity. Earlier depression onset was associated with premenstrual symptoms and postpartum depression, but a lower likelihood of melancholia.
What it means for you
There may be a link between depression starting early and experiencing premenstrual symptoms, possibly due to shared biological factors. However, the study relied on women recalling when their depression started, which can be unreliable. This studied only Han Chinese women so findings may not apply elsewhere.
6017
total women studied
1848
phase I participants
4169
phase II participants
About the study
- Original title
- Age at onset of recurrent major depression in Han Chinese women - a replication study
- Authors
- Yang F, Zhao H, Wang Z et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2014
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 6,017
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.01.004
Topics
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