Randomised trial, 2022
Does emotion-focused group therapy help women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
Yes. Emotion-focused group therapy significantly improved pain, self-compassion, sexual function, and reduced couple burnout. The effects were large and consistent across all measured areas.
What they did
Randomized controlled trial with 72 married women with PMDD. The intervention group received 10 sessions of emotion-focused group therapy. The control group was placed on a waitlist and received no treatment. Pain, self-compassion, sexual function, and couple burnout were measured before and after.
What they found
Emotion-focused group therapy significantly reduced pain perception, increased self-compassion, improved sexual function, and reduced couple burnout compared to the waitlist control group. Participants reported satisfaction with treatment and had good relationships with therapists.
What it means for you
Emotion-focused group therapy appears to be an effective psychological treatment for PMDD that improves wellbeing and reduces stress on relationships. Main limitation: only married women were studied, so we do not know if it works for single women or those with milder PMS. The study did not report how long improvements lasted after treatment ended.
72
Number of women
10
Number of therapy sessions
About the study
- Original title
- Emotion-focused group therapy among women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: A randomized clinical trial
- Authors
- Shareh H, Ghodsi M, Keramati S
- Journal
- Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research
- Year
- 2022
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 72
- What was tested
- 10 sessions of emotion-focused group therapy
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1980239
Topics
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