Cohort study, 2016
How do menstrual symptoms affect mood in teenage girls?
Physical and psychological symptoms are strongly linked in adolescent girls. The link partly works because physical symptoms make girls avoid daily activities, which worsens depressed mood and thinking problems.
What they did
208 Italian girls (average age 16.68 years) completed an online 95-item questionnaire about their menstrual symptoms and how these symptoms affected their daily activities.
What they found
Physical and psychological symptoms were strongly associated. Withdrawing from daily activities partly explained the link between physical symptoms and depressed mood and cognitive symptoms, but this pathway did not explain links to other mood symptoms.
What it means for you
In some teenage girls, avoiding activities due to menstrual symptoms may worsen mood. However, the study was cross-sectional (a one-time snapshot, not tracking changes over time), so we cannot say whether activity avoidance causes worse mood or whether they just occur together.
208
girls surveyed
16.68
average age in years
95
items in questionnaire
About the study
- Original title
- The impact of menstrual cycle-related physical symptoms on daily activities and psychological wellness among adolescent girls
- Authors
- van Iersel KC, Kiesner J, Pastore M et al.
- Journal
- Journal of adolescence
- Year
- 2016
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 208
- What was tested
- None - observational survey
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.03.007