---
title: Does the menstrual cycle affect mood, especially in women who exercise hard?
description: Women with regular periods showed marked negative mood changes before menstruation compared to mid-cycle. Heavy endurance running training worsened overall mo
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/mood-mileage-and-the-menstrual-cycle-1992/
---

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- Does the menstrual cycle affect mood, especially in women who exercise hard?

Survey study, 1992

# Does the menstrual cycle affect mood, especially in women who exercise hard?

Women with regular periods showed marked negative mood changes before menstruation compared to mid-cycle. Heavy endurance running training worsened overall mood.

 Early or limited evidence

40 women (mean age 29): 20 inactive, 13 distance runners with regular or irregular periods, 7 amenorrhoeic runners

## What they did

Cross-sectional study of 40 women with a mean age of 29. Included 20 inactive women with regular periods, 13 competitive distance runners with regular or irregular periods, and 7 amenorrhoeic runners. All completed mood questionnaires twice. Menstruating women answered both premenstrually and at mid-cycle. Amenorrhoeic athletes answered at a 3-week interval as a control.

## What they found

Highly significant differences in mood profiles appeared among the three groups. The greatest difference was between premenstrual and mid-cycle measures in inactive women. Premenstrual syndrome caused marked negative mood swings in menstruating women. Lower-intensity training of around 50 km per week appeared to benefit mood. High-intensity training of 50-130 km per week had an adverse effect on mood.

## What it means for you

Premenstrual mood changes appear real in women with regular periods. Heavy endurance training may worsen overall mood. This is a very small study from 1992 with no randomized control group, so we cannot be certain the training caused the mood changes.

40

women total

50-130

km per week for high-intensity running

50

km per week associated with better mood

## About the study

Original title Mood, mileage and the menstrual cycle Authors Cockerill IM, Nevill AM, Byrne NC Journal British journal of sports medicine Year 1992 Study design Survey study Participants 40 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.26.3.145](https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.26.3.145)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Athletes and sport](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-athletes/)

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