Survey study, 1985
Do stress and how you were raised affect premenstrual symptoms?
Yes. Stress and traditional upbringing both influence premenstrual symptoms, especially mood changes. Mood changes appear to be the most important cause of premenstrual disability.
What they did
Researchers interviewed 179 women aged 18 to 35 about their sex role socialization, recent stressful events, premenstrual symptoms, and attitudes toward menstruation. They analyzed which factors most influenced premenstrual symptoms and disability.
What they found
Exposure to stressful situations was useful in explaining cyclic symptoms of negative mood. Negative mood symptoms were the most important cause of disability during the premenstrual period. Traditional upbringing, intense negative mood symptoms, and related disability all influenced how women felt about menstruation.
What it means for you
This suggests both stress exposure and how women were socialized affect their premenstrual symptoms. Mood changes appear to be the main driver of premenstrual disability. The main limit is this is a cross-sectional study, so we cannot know if stress causes symptoms or if symptoms make people notice stress more.
179
women
18-35
age range
About the study
- Original title
- Relationship of socialization and stress to perimenstrual symptoms, disability, and menstrual attitudes
- Authors
- Woods NF
- Journal
- Nursing research
- Year
- 1985
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 179
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/00006199-198505000-00004
Topics
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