Survey study, 1999
Does high stress make the menstrual cycle irregular?
No clear pattern was found. While women with irregular cycles tended to report higher stress, stress levels did not consistently predict how long each cycle phase lasted.
What they did
Researchers tracked 34 women over 120 menstrual cycles. They measured stress through questionnaires and urine hormone tests (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol), and tracked whether cycles were normal, abnormal, or unclear.
What they found
No consistent relationship emerged between stress levels and follicular or luteal phase length within individual women. There was a weak trend for women to report higher stress during abnormal or unclear cycles compared to normal cycles, but the relationship was not clear or strong.
What it means for you
Stress may not be a direct cause of irregular menstrual cycles, though there may be a weak connection. The main limit is that this was an observational study that did not control for other factors affecting both stress and cycles, such as sleep, diet, or exercise.
34
Women in study
120
Menstrual cycles tracked
About the study
- Original title
- Psychosocial stress and the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Sanders KA, Bruce NW
- Journal
- Journal of biosocial science
- Year
- 1999
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 34
- What was tested
- None (observational tracking of stress and cycle patterns)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s0021932099003934
Topics
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