---
title: Does how a girl experiences her first period affect her adult PMS symptoms?
description: No. Negative memories of first menstruation had little effect on current menstrual attitudes or symptoms. Current attitudes about menstruation were more stron
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/recollections-of-menarche-current-menstrual-attitudes-and-perimenstrual-symptoms-1982/
---

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- Does how a girl experiences her first period affect her adult PMS symptoms?

Survey study, 1982

# Does how a girl experiences her first period affect her adult PMS symptoms?

No. Negative memories of first menstruation had little effect on current menstrual attitudes or symptoms. Current attitudes about menstruation were more strongly linked to current symptoms.

 Early or limited evidence

179 nonpregnant menstruating women aged 18 to 35, lower to upper middle income neighborhoods

## What they did

179 women aged 18 to 35 were surveyed about their memories of their first menstruation, their current attitudes toward menstruation, and their current premenstrual and menstrual symptoms.

## What they found

Negative recollections of first menstruation had little effect on current menstrual attitudes. Positive recollections of first menstruation were surprisingly associated with more premenstrual and menstrual negative affect and impaired performance. Current menstrual attitudes were more strongly associated with women's current menstrual symptoms than memories of first menstruation.

## What it means for you

How a girl experiences her first period does not strongly shape her adult PMS symptoms. Current beliefs about menstruation matter more than childhood memories. The main limitation is that the study was survey-based with no measurement of actual biological factors.

179

women studied

18 to 35

age range

## About the study

Original title Recollections of menarche, current menstrual attitudes, and perimenstrual symptoms Authors Woods NF, Dery GK, Most A Journal Psychosomatic medicine Year 1982 Study design Survey study Participants 179 Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198207000-00006](https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198207000-00006)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

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