Study, 2008
Can a psychological intervention that addresses self-criticism help women with premenstrual distress?
A psychological intervention that helped women recognize and change patterns of self-blame, staying silent, and over-responsibility reduced their premenstrual distress and gave them more control over their emotions.
What they did
Researchers interviewed 12 British women about their experience with premenstrual changes and how they typically responded to these feelings. The women then received a psychological intervention designed to help them recognize patterns like self-silencing, blaming themselves, and taking on too much responsibility. The women were interviewed again after the intervention.
What they found
Before the intervention, women described themselves as split between two selves, remained silent about their feelings, and felt responsible for managing everyone's emotions. After the intervention, women reported feeling more equal in their relationships, stopped blaming their body for their emotions, and reduced self-sacrifice.
What it means for you
Addressing how women think and judge themselves may help more than blaming their body for premenstrual emotions. However, this was a small study with only 12 women and no comparison group.
12
women interviewed
About the study
- Original title
- Challenging the Positioning of Premenstrual Change as PMS: The Impact of a Psychological Intervention on Women's Self-Policing
- Authors
- Jane Maria Ussher
- Journal
- Qualitative Research in Psychology
- Year
- 2008
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 12
- What was tested
- Woman-centered psychological intervention
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/14780880701863567
Topics
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