---
title: Does how much you tend to worry affect your mood before your period?
description: Yes. Women who scored higher on a personality test for worry and upset feelings reported more negative mood before their period, even accounting for baseline
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/relationship-between-the-neo-personality-inventory-revised-neuroticism-scale-and-2001/
---

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- Does how much you tend to worry affect your mood before your period?

Survey study, 2001

# Does how much you tend to worry affect your mood before your period?

Yes. Women who scored higher on a personality test for worry and upset feelings reported more negative mood before their period, even accounting for baseline mood. Women taking birth control pills had higher worry scores.

 Early or limited evidence

109 women from the general population

## What they did

109 women completed daily questionnaires about mood and symptoms for 70 days. Researchers measured their personality trait of tending to worry and feel upset using a standard test.

## What they found

The tendency to worry and feel upset was linked to more negative feelings before the period. Women using birth control pills had higher worry scores than those not using them. Birth control users experienced less negative mood before their period but more negative mood during menstruation.

## What it means for you

Tendency to worry may influence premenstrual mood changes. This was an observational study without treatment groups, so we cannot determine if worry causes the symptoms or simply goes along with them.

109

women studied

70

days of tracking

## About the study

Original title Relationship between the NEO personality inventory revised neuroticism scale and prospectively reported negative affect across the menstrual cycle Authors Ross C, Coleman G, Stojanovska C Journal Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology Year 2001 Study design Survey study What was tested None. This tracked personality traits and mood over time. Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/01674820109049969](https://doi.org/10.3109/01674820109049969)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)[Cognitive behavioral therapy](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-cbt/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)

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