Study, 2008
Do women who are naturally anxious show bigger stress responses during certain parts of their menstrual cycle?
Yes. Women who are naturally anxious showed the biggest stress response (more cortisol and higher blood pressure) during the early part of their menstrual cycle, but non-anxious women did not show this pattern.
What they did
Researchers studied 40 healthy women, dividing them into anxious and non-anxious groups based on a personality test. They exposed each woman to stress by having her do a mental task (Stroop test) and grip a hand dynamometer. They measured cortisol levels in saliva, blood pressure, and her performance on the mental task.
What they found
In anxious women during the follicular phase, stress caused a significant rise in cortisol levels. These anxious women also showed greater increases in blood pressure during the hand grip exercise compared to anxious women in the luteal phase and compared to non-anxious women in either phase. In non-anxious women, higher cortisol levels were linked with better performance on the mental task, but this link was negative in anxious women.
What it means for you
Women who are naturally anxious may have larger physical stress responses during the early part of their menstrual cycle. This could help explain why some anxious women experience worse symptoms at certain times of their cycle. The main limitation is that this tested stress in a laboratory setting, not real-life stress.
40
healthy women studied
About the study
- Original title
- Neuroendocrine activation during combined mental and physical stress in women depends on trait anxiety and the phase of the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Hlavacova N, Wawruch M, Tisonova J et al.
- Journal
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Year
- 2008
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 40
- What was tested
- Exposure to combined mental and physical stress (Stroop test and hand grip exercise)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1196/annals.1410.030
Topics
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