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Survey study, 2021

Does managing stress, emotions, diet, exercise and sleep help PMS in female athletes?

Yes. Stress response directly affects PMS, and managing emotions well, eating well, exercising and sleeping enough are connected to lower PMS.

Early or limited evidence 257 female university athletes in Japan, average age 20 years

What they did

257 female university athletes in Japan (average age 20) answered online questions about stress response, emotional coping, diet, exercise and sleep. Researchers used analysis to find connections between these factors and PMS scores.

What they found

Stress response had a direct connection to PMS. Emotional coping and diet were linked to PMS through stress response. More exercise was linked to better sleep. Better sleep and good emotional coping were linked to better emotion management.

What it means for you

Reducing stress, developing healthy ways to cope with emotions, eating well, exercising and sleeping enough may help manage PMS. The study only looked at young athletes in Japan, so results may not apply to all women.

257

female athletes studied

20 years

average age

0.63

strength of stress response link to PMS

About the study

Original title
Relationship of stress response, coping and lifestyle with premenstrual syndrome in female university athletes: A structural equation modeling
Authors
Mayaka Tani, Yuko Oguma, Yoshinobu Saito et al.
Journal
体力科學
Year
2021
Study design
Survey study
Participants
257
What was tested
None
Open access
Yes

Topics