Study, 1994
Do women with PMS cope with stress differently than other women?
Women with PMS who have higher depression scores tend to use avoidant coping (avoiding stressful situations rather than dealing with them). This pattern is consistent throughout their menstrual cycle, not just during the premenstrual phase.
What they did
65 women with confirmed PMS were divided into groups based on depression scores (high-depression and low-depression groups) and compared with 49 women without PMS. All participants completed questionnaires about how they cope with stress and their anxiety levels.
What they found
Women in the high-depression PMS group used significantly more avoidant coping styles to deal with stress than other women. This pattern of avoidant coping was consistent throughout their menstrual cycle, independent of cycle phase. The study noted implications for treatment.
What it means for you
If you have PMS with depression, you may naturally tend to avoid dealing with stressful situations rather than facing them directly. Understanding this about yourself could help guide what treatments or coping strategies might work best for you. One main limitation is that we cannot tell whether avoidant coping causes worse PMS or whether having PMS leads to this coping pattern.
65
women with PMS
49
control women without PMS
About the study
- Original title
- Coping styles in women with premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Kuczmierczyk AR, Johnson CC, Labrum AH
- Journal
- Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica
- Year
- 1994
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Questionnaires measuring coping styles and anxiety
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1994.tb01519.x
Topics
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