Survey study, 2024
How do sleep disruption, mood, and menstrual phase affect each other?
During the perimenstrual phase (around menstruation), women wake up 8-16 minutes longer at night than other cycle phases and feel more anger. When sleep is disrupted during this phase, positive emotions drop.
What they did
51 healthy women aged 18-35 wore sleep trackers and kept daily diaries about sleep and mood for two menstrual cycles, averaging 51 days of tracking total.
What they found
During the perimenstrual phase, women woke up 8-16 minutes longer per night (average 67.54 minutes) versus other phases. Sleep monitors showed 4-7 additional minutes of wake time. Anger increased significantly during this phase. When wake time was higher during the perimenstrual phase, positive emotions dropped by 0.05-0.10 points.
What it means for you
Poor sleep during the week around menstruation makes anger worse and reduces good feelings. Improving sleep during this time might help women at risk for mood problems. The study was small (51 women) and only tracked two cycles.
51
women studied
8-16 minutes
extra time awake during perimenstrual phase
2
menstrual cycles tracked
About the study
- Original title
- Interaction of sleep and emotion across the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Meers JM, Bower J, Nowakowski S et al.
- Journal
- Journal of sleep research
- Year
- 2024
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 51
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14185
Topics
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