---
title: Does childhood stress cause menstrual cycle problems and lower fertility?
description: Women who experienced more childhood adversity had increased risk of fertility problems and missing periods. For each additional adverse experience, fertility
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/adverse-childhood-event-experiences-fertility-difficulties-and-menstrual-cycle-2015/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Does childhood stress cause menstrual cycle problems and lower fertility?

Survey study, 2015

# Does childhood stress cause menstrual cycle problems and lower fertility?

Women who experienced more childhood adversity had increased risk of fertility problems and missing periods. For each additional adverse experience, fertility risk rose 9% and missing periods 7%.

 Moderate study design

742 pregnant and non-pregnant women aged 18-45 in Louisiana (2012-2014)

## What they did

A survey of 742 women aged 18-45 in Louisiana from April 2012 to February 2014. They reported on their childhood adversity experiences and reproductive history, including difficulty getting pregnant and menstrual cycle patterns.

## What they found

For each additional adverse childhood experience: infertility risk increased (RR=1.09), amenorrhea increased (RR=1.07), and fecundability decreased (FR=0.97). Women with high adversity had 2.75 times more infertility and 2.54 times more amenorrhea than women with none.

## What it means for you

Childhood stress may affect the body's stress system in ways that disrupt periods and fertility. However, this is self-reported data from a single region, so we cannot be certain stress causes these problems.

742

Women studied

1.09

Risk increase per adverse childhood experience

2.75

Infertility risk in high adversity group

## About the study

Original title Adverse childhood event experiences, fertility difficulties and menstrual cycle characteristics Authors Jacobs MB, Boynton-Jarrett RD, Harville EW Journal Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology Year 2015 Study design Survey study What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/0167482x.2015.1026892](https://doi.org/10.3109/0167482x.2015.1026892)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[PTSD and trauma](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-ptsd-trauma/)[Pregnancy and postpartum](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-postpartum/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

Survey study, 2005

How does trauma history affect PMDD symptoms and pregnancy?

Review, 2023

What treatments help mental and physical health problems linked to the menstrual cycle?

Cohort study, 2023

Does COVID-19 vaccination change the menstrual cycle?

Systematic review, 2026

Does childhood trauma increase the risk for PMS, PMDD, and related mood disorders?

Survey study, 2026

Do difficult childhood experiences lead to worse PMS symptoms as an adult?

Survey study, 2025

Do PMS and menopausal symptoms make loneliness worse when women experience COVID-related stress?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗