Survey study, 2001
Do women with PMS show personality changes during their menstrual cycle?
Yes. Women with PMS showed significantly increased personality disorder traits during the luteal phase (before menstruation) compared to the follicular phase. This pattern did not happen in women without PMS.
What they did
Researchers gave a personality questionnaire to three groups of women during both the follicular and luteal phases of their menstrual cycle: 40 women with PMS, 20 women without PMS (asymptomatic controls), and 20 women with depression unrelated to their menstrual cycle (symptomatic controls).
What they found
Only women with PMS showed a significant increase in personality disorder traits from the follicular to luteal phase (p < .01). Women with PMS had significantly higher personality disorder scores than asymptomatic controls during both the follicular (p < .05) and luteal (p < .01) phases. Women with PMS had similar scores to women with depression.
What it means for you
PMS may involve both temporary changes in personality traits (during the luteal phase) and lasting personality features. However, the study cannot show whether personality changes cause PMS or result from PMS, nor does it explain the biological reason for these changes.
40
women with PMS
20
women without PMS
20
women with non-menstrual depression
About the study
- Original title
- Effects of the menstrual cycle on measures of personality in women with premenstrual syndrome: a preliminary study
- Authors
- Berlin RE, Raju JD, Schmidt PJ et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of clinical psychiatry
- Year
- 2001
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 40
- What was tested
- None - personality questionnaire completed at two cycle phases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v62n0505
Topics
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