Systematic review, 2026
Do psychological treatments help PMS?
Yes. Psychological interventions like therapy significantly reduce PMS symptoms, depression, anxiety, and anger or irritability in women with PMS.
What they did
They reviewed and analysed 20 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1369 women with PMS who received psychological interventions. They used strict methods to assess the quality of each trial and pooled the results.
What they found
Psychological interventions reduced the severity of PMS symptoms (SMD = -1.57, 95% CI [-1.94, -1.21]). The interventions significantly alleviated PMS-related depressive symptoms (SMD = -1.08, 95% CI [-1.46, -0.70]), anxiety symptoms (SMD = -1.03, 95% CI [-1.36, -0.69]), and anger/irritability symptoms (SMD = -0.85, 95% CI [-1.47, -0.24]). One trial was identified as an outlier, but results remained significant after excluding it.
What it means for you
Psychological treatments could be a useful non-drug option for managing PMS and its emotional symptoms. The main limitation is that the studies varied in their methods, so more consistent research is needed.
20
randomized controlled trials included
1369
women with PMS studied
-1.57
effect size for reduction in overall PMS symptom severity
About the study
- Original title
- Efficacy of psychological interventions for premenstrual syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Authors
- Liu Y, Wu R, Liu X et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2026
- Study design
- Systematic review
- What was tested
- Psychological interventions for PMS symptom management
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.122264
Topics
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