--- title: Do marked mood changes happen mainly before menstruation? | Niyora description: Marked mood changes happen just as often after menstruation as before, so cycle phase is not a good predictor of mood. Social relationships predict mood chang url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/prevalence-and-predictors-of-cyclic-and-noncyclic-affective-change-1997/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do marked mood changes happen mainly before menstruation? Survey study, 1997 # Do marked mood changes happen mainly before menstruation? Marked mood changes happen just as often after menstruation as before, so cycle phase is not a good predictor of mood. Social relationships predict mood changes much better than cycle timing does. Early or limited evidence 101 employed women ## What they did 101 working women tracked their mood and life circumstances over two consecutive menstrual cycles. ## What they found Although 40% of women thought they had PMS, none showed a clear recurring pattern of marked mood change before their period. Marked mood changes occurred as often in the postmenstrual phase as in the premenstrual phase. Social connection (feeling supported by relationships) predicted mood changes 10 times better than stress did. ## What it means for you Many women believe their mood changes are caused by their cycle, but these data show mood changes happen throughout the month. How supported women feel in their relationships matters much more for mood than the time of their cycle. The study only included employed women, so results may differ for students or other groups. 40% women who thought they had PMS 10 times how much more social connection predicted mood than stress ## About the study Original title Prevalence and Predictors of Cyclic and Noncyclic Affective Change Authors Elizabeth A. Hardie Journal Psychology of Women Quarterly Year 1997 Study design Survey study Participants 101 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00114.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00114.x) Original abstract The prevalence of cyclic and week-to-week affective change was prospectively assessed over two consecutive menstrual cycles in a nonclinical sample of 101 employed women. Although 40% perceived themselves to have premenstrual syndrome (PMS), none showed a recurrent pattern of marked premenstrual affective change. Marked affective change was as likely to occur in the postmenstrual as the premenstrual phase. Weekly marked change was as prevalent as cyclic change. Although social health (perceived quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships) and subjective stress consistently predicted both cyclic and weekly affective states, the contribution of social health was 10 times greater than that of stress. The role of social health requires further examination, as does the widespread misuse of the PMS label to account for occasional changes in affect. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Survey study, 2026 Does stress affect premenstrual symptoms in female athletes, and can coping strategies help? Survey study, 2026 Is academic stress linked to PMS severity in university students? Survey study, 2025 What psychological and personal factors predict which university students will develop premenstrual syndrome? Survey study, 2023 Does stress cause women with PMDD to eat emotionally? Survey study, 2021 Does physical activity or age at first period affect how much PMS a teenage girl experiences? Study, 2021 Do women's personalities and marriages change between different phases of the menstrual cycle? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗