---
title: Do Black women and White women experience PMS differently? | Niyora
description: No clear difference. Black women and White women reported similar rates and severity of premenstrual symptoms, except Black women reported more food cravings.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-symptoms-in-black-and-white-community-samples-1986/
---

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- Do Black women and White women experience PMS differently?

Survey study, 1986

# Do Black women and White women experience PMS differently?

No clear difference. Black women and White women reported similar rates and severity of premenstrual symptoms, except Black women reported more food cravings. The difference in who seeks treatment is likely due to social and cultural factors, not differences in symptoms.

 Early or limited evidence

Black and White women from a community-based sample

## What they did

Researchers surveyed a community-based sample of Black and White women about their premenstrual symptoms.

## What they found

No difference in how common or severe premenstrual symptoms were between Black and White women, except Black women had a higher prevalence of food cravings.

## What it means for you

PMS affects women of all races similarly. Differences in who gets treated for PMS are likely due to cultural and social factors rather than differences in how much women experience symptoms. This was a community-based sample, which strengthens the finding, but the mechanisms behind care-seeking differences were not studied.

similar rates

in both racial groups

food cravings

higher in Black women

## About the study

Original title Premenstrual symptoms in black and white community samples Authors Stout AL, Grady TA, Steege JF et al. Journal The American journal of psychiatry Year 1986 Study design Survey study What was tested None Read the paper [doi.org/10.1176/ajp.143.11.1436](https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.143.11.1436)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)

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