Randomised trial, 1993
Does the point in your menstrual cycle change your mood, or change how alcohol affects your mood?
No. This study found no evidence that mood or alcohol's effects on mood differed across menstrual cycle phases, suggesting cycle-linked mood swings may be more about expectations than biology, at least in this drinking context.
What they did
96 women who were heavy drinkers were randomly split into 12 groups to separate out the effects of alcohol itself, what people expected alcohol to do, and menstrual cycle phase. The alcohol groups drank enough to raise their blood alcohol to .07 mg %. Mood was measured with a standard mood questionnaire before and after drinking.
What they found
Mood did not differ across menstrual cycle phases at baseline. The only mood changes were a Beverage by Trials interaction on the Vigor and Confusion scales, and a main effect of trials (time) on the Tension-Anxiety and Vigor scales. Peak intoxication level also did not differ across cycle phases.
What it means for you
The results support the idea that mood changes often blamed on the menstrual cycle may instead be socially learned expectations, not a direct biological effect, at least for this group and this type of study. The main limits are that everyone studied was a heavy drinker and didn't know the true purpose of the study, so results may not apply to women generally or to everyday PMS.
96
women studied
12
study groups
.07 mg %
target blood alcohol level
About the study
- Original title
- Mood effects of alcohol and expectancies across the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Freitag WJ, Adesso VJ
- Journal
- Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)
- Year
- 1993
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 96
- What was tested
- Alcohol (raised blood alcohol to .07 mg %) vs none, plus different expectations, across cycle phases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0741-8329(93)90008-c
Topics
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