Survey study, 2016
Does difficulty controlling emotions affect how PMS and anxiety change during your cycle?
Partially. Emotion regulation affected how much anxiety control changed between cycle phases, but did not clearly affect physical PMS symptoms.
What they did
Researchers studied 37 healthy women with regular cycles (average age 26.5 years). They examined whether difficulty controlling emotions changed how much PMS symptoms and anxiety control varied between menstrual phases using questionnaires.
What they found
Emotion regulation difficulty affected how much control over anxiety changed between menstrual phases. Women with lower emotion regulation difficulty experienced a greater increase in control over anxiety during the late luteal phase (before menstruation) compared to women with higher emotion regulation difficulty. Emotion regulation difficulty did not clearly affect how PMS symptoms changed between phases.
What it means for you
How well you manage emotions may explain why some women notice big shifts in anxiety during certain cycle phases while others don't. However, emotion regulation difficulty did not affect physical PMS symptoms. The study included only 37 women in one age group, so results may not apply to all women.
37
Women studied
26.5
Average age in years
-0.42
Emotion regulation effect on anxiety
About the study
- Original title
- The role of emotion regulation in the experience of menstrual symptoms and perceived control over anxiety-related events across the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Manikandan S, Nillni YI, Zvolensky MJ et al.
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2016
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 37
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-016-0661-1
Topics
Related studies
Survey study, 2022
How common are premenstrual symptoms, and do they change with age?
Randomised trial, 2020
Does progesterone therapy help premenstrual syndrome in women with PCOS?
Randomised trial, 2013
Does progesterone reduce PMS symptoms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome?
Survey study, 2026
Can changing your diet help with period and PMS symptoms like fatigue, mood swings and bloating?
Study, 2025
Does your personality type affect how much emotional PMS symptoms you have?
Survey study, 2025
Does anxiety and emotion regulation change across the menstrual cycle in women with PMS and PMDD?