Survey study, 1995
Do women with PMS explain their symptoms differently depending on when in their menstrual cycle they are?
Yes. Women with PMS blamed the menstrual cycle more often for their symptoms during the premenstrual phase than at other times, while women without PMS showed no difference. This suggests that cycle phase changes how women interpret their symptoms.
What they did
Cross-sectional study comparing 38 women with PMS and 26 control women. Researchers asked them what they thought caused their complaints during both premenstrual and non-premenstrual phases of their cycle.
What they found
Women with confirmed PMS blamed the menstrual cycle more frequently for their complaints during the premenstrual phase than during other phases. Control women gave the same types of explanations in both phases. Women with PMS also more often blamed psychological distress and physical exertion for complaints at any time compared to controls.
What it means for you
How women interpret their own symptoms changes with their cycle phase. Understanding these patterns could help design better treatments. The main limitation is the study was relatively small and observational, not experimental.
38
Women with PMS
26
Control women
About the study
- Original title
- Causal attributions in premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Arend T. Veeninga, Floris W. Kraaimaat
- Journal
- Psychology and Health
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 38
- What was tested
- None (observational)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/08870449508401951
Topics
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