---
title: What psychological factors are linked to premenstrual syndrome?
description: Psychological factors like difficulty identifying emotions, low social support, neurotic personality, and anxiety are associated with PMS. The strongest link
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/psychological-predictors-of-premenstrual-syndrome-2014/
---

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- What psychological factors are linked to premenstrual syndrome?

Survey study, 2014

# What psychological factors are linked to premenstrual syndrome?

Psychological factors like difficulty identifying emotions, low social support, neurotic personality, and anxiety are associated with PMS. The strongest link was difficulty identifying emotions, which increased PMS risk 4.39 times.

 Moderate study design

350 medical students in Iran (175 with PMS, 175 without)

## What they did

Cross-sectional study comparing 175 medical students with PMS to 175 without PMS in Iran. Researchers assessed psychological factors using questionnaires measuring depression, anxiety, stress, social support, personality, and difficulty identifying emotions.

## What they found

Difficulty identifying emotions (alexithymia) had the strongest link with PMS at 4.39 times higher risk. Low social support increased risk 2.7 times. Neurotic personality increased risk 1.3 times. High anxiety increased risk 1.2 times.

## What it means for you

Mental health and social factors may play a role in PMS. This suggests that addressing anxiety, building social support, and managing personality traits might help. The main limit is that this is a cross-sectional study, so we cannot prove these psychological factors cause PMS, only that they appear together.

350

female students (175 with PMS, 175 without)

4.39

times higher PMS risk with difficulty identifying emotions

2.7

times higher risk with low social support

## About the study

Original title Psychological Predictors of Premenstrual Syndrome Authors Mahbobeh Faramarzi, Farzan Kheirkhah, Sanaz Azadfrouz Journal International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal Year 2014 Study design Survey study Participants 350 What was tested None - observational comparison Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.9734/indj/2014/12638](https://doi.org/10.9734/indj/2014/12638)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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.

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