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.
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
Topics
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