Lab study, 2017
Do negative thought patterns change during the menstrual cycle?
Some deeply held negative thought patterns became less active between day 1 and day 15 of the cycle, while other patterns stayed about the same. This suggests hormones might activate certain thought patterns during PMS.
What they did
110 women from an architecture and engineering firm were recruited. Women who had no other mental health conditions (65 women) filled out a questionnaire about their deepest thought patterns and beliefs on day 1 of their period and again 15 days later.
What they found
By day 15 of the cycle, negative thoughts about being defective, lacking self-control, failing at things, and worrying about harm all clearly decreased. Other negative patterns like fear of abandonment, feeling isolated, depending too much on others, and self-sacrifice stayed about the same across both measurements.
What it means for you
This suggests that some negative thought patterns might get worse with hormone changes during PMS and improve as the cycle continues. A type of talk therapy called schema therapy that targets these deep patterns might help. The main limit is the study was in one workplace with mostly office workers, so results may not apply to all women.
110
Women initially enrolled
65
Women who completed the study
15 days
Time between measurements
About the study
- Original title
- Early maladaptive schema domains in the first day of menses and 15 days after the menses in healthy volunteers
- Authors
- Barış Önen Ünsalver, A. Ulu, Gökben Hızlı Sayar
- Journal
- European Psychiatry
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Lab study
- Participants
- 65
- What was tested
- None (this was an observational study measuring changes across the cycle)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.2261