Survey study, 2013
Do stress-sensitive women respond to stress differently across the menstrual cycle?
Women with high stress sensitivity show stronger stress responses during menstruation than women with low stress sensitivity, but not at other cycle phases.
What they did
Female college students with high and low stress sensitivity were tested during three cycle phases: menstruation, luteal, and ovulatory. They did a stressful task, naming colors of words on a computer, while researchers measured skin response, heart rate, and heart rate patterns.
What they found
During menstruation, women with high stress sensitivity had faster reaction times on the task than women with low stress sensitivity. This difference did not appear in luteal or ovulatory phases. During menstruation, women with high stress sensitivity showed lower skin response than in other phases.
What it means for you
Stress sensitivity and the menstrual cycle both affect stress responses, with the strongest effect during menstruation. The study only included college students, so results may not apply to older women or different populations.
3 phases
Menstruation, luteal, ovulatory
Stroop task
Stress test used
menstruation
Strongest effect here
About the study
- Original title
- Variation in the stress response between high- and low-neuroticism female undergraduates across the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Liu Q, Zhou R, Oei TP et al.
- Journal
- Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None - observed stress responses across cycle phases
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2013.797958
Topics
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