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Non-randomised trial, 2023

Does poetry therapy help women with PMDD reduce negative thoughts and improve mood?

Yes. Women who received group poetry therapy had significant improvements in negative thoughts, intrusive memories, and mood balance compared to no treatment.

Early or limited evidence 20 female dormitory students with PMDD at Farhangian University of Ardabil

What they did

Quasi-experimental study of 20 female dormitory students with PMDD. Half received group poetry therapy based on Ferdowsi's Shahnameh romantic debates, and half were controls. Measures included intrusive memories, automatic thoughts, and mood balance before and after treatment.

What they found

The experimental group had significant improvements in negative interpretation (F=40.990, p<0.01), rumination (F=23.367, p<0.01), suppression (F=13.753, p<0.01), distress (F=16.924, p<0.01), automatic thoughts (F=28.874, p<0.01), positive affect (F=13.892, p<0.01), and negative affect (F=55.887, p<0.01).

What it means for you

Poetry therapy may help reduce PMDD symptoms through therapeutic components like catharsis and empathy. The study was very small and from one university in Iran, so results may not apply elsewhere or across different cultures.

20

Female students studied

p<0.01

All improvements statistically significant

F=55.887

Largest effect (negative affect balance)

About the study

Original title
Effectiveness of Group Poetry Therapy of Mazza's Multidimensional Model (Based on the Romantic Debates of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh) on Response to Intrusion Memories, Automatic Thoughts and Affect Balance in Female Students with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Authors
Laleh Senobar, Sayed Ali Sharifi Fard, Arefeh Bagher Pour
Year
2023
Study design
Non-randomised trial
Participants
20
What was tested
Group poetry therapy based on Ferdowsi's Shahnameh romantic debates
Open access
Yes

Topics