---
title: What psychological factors are linked to PMS severity? | Niyora
description: Women with PMS had significantly higher stress, lower confidence in their abilities, greater body dissatisfaction, and more self-silencing than women without
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/psychosocial-profile-of-women-with-premenstrual-syndrome-and-healthy-controls-a-2016/
---

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- What psychological factors are linked to PMS severity?

Case-control study, 2016

# What psychological factors are linked to PMS severity?

Women with PMS had significantly higher stress, lower confidence in their abilities, greater body dissatisfaction, and more self-silencing than women without PMS. Body dissatisfaction and self-silencing were the strongest predictors of PMS severity.

 Moderate study design

90 German women with PMS and 48 German women without premenstrual symptoms

## What they did

A case-control study compared 90 German women with PMS to 48 without PMS. Researchers assessed psychological and social factors including stress, self-confidence, body image, and self-silencing during both the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle using daily ratings over one complete cycle.

## What they found

Women with PMS showed significantly higher perceived chronic stress, lower self-efficacy, more body dissatisfaction, and more self-silencing. Body dissatisfaction and the divided-self dimension of self-silencing were significant predictors of PMS symptom severity. Psychosocial factors explained 20% of the variance in PMS symptom severity.

## What it means for you

Psychological and social factors like stress, body image, and self-suppression are linked to more severe PMS and may be worth addressing in treatment. However, these factors explained only 20% of PMS severity, meaning biological factors are equally or more important. The study was limited to German women, so findings may not apply to all populations.

90

women with PMS

48

women without PMS

20%

variance in PMS severity explained

## About the study

Original title Psychosocial Profile of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome and Healthy Controls: A Comparative Study Authors Kleinstäuber M, Schmelzer K, Ditzen B et al. Journal International journal of behavioral medicine Year 2016 Study design Case-control study Participants 90 What was tested None - observational study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9564-9](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9564-9)

## Topics

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

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