Survey study, 2025
Do women with PMS have higher anxiety, stress, and different personality traits?
Yes. Women with PMS had significantly higher anxiety sensitivity and stress levels, higher neuroticism and psychoticism traits, and slightly lower extraversion than women without PMS.
What they did
Researchers surveyed 1008 female healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. They collected information about PMS, anxiety sensitivity, perceived stress, and personality traits using standard questionnaires.
What they found
Women with PMS had higher anxiety sensitivity (27.64 vs 16.51), higher perceived stress (23.52 vs 19.16), and higher neuroticism (4.20 vs 3.19) and psychoticism (1.74 vs 1.51). Their extraversion was slightly lower (3.87 vs 3.98). All of these scores correlated with each other, meaning as PMS symptoms increased, anxiety, stress, and these personality traits also increased.
What it means for you
PMS appears linked to anxiety, stress, and certain personality patterns in healthcare workers. This does not tell us whether these traits come before PMS or develop because of PMS, since this is a cross-sectional survey. Women with PMS might benefit from therapy and education about managing PMS symptoms.
1008
Healthcare workers studied
27.64 vs 16.51
Anxiety sensitivity scores with PMS vs without
23.52 vs 19.16
Perceived stress scores with PMS vs without
About the study
- Original title
- Anxiety sensitivity, perceived stress, personality traits and premenstrual syndrome in young adult women healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Authors
- Gümüşsoy S, Keskin G, Yıldırım GÖ
- Journal
- Work (Reading, Mass.)
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 1,008
- What was tested
- None. This was a survey measuring existing traits.
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1177/10519815241290293
Topics
Related studies
Survey study, 2026
Is academic stress linked to PMS severity in university students?
Survey study, 2024
How do hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle affect gut health and mood?
Survey study, 2020
What attitudes do teenage girls have about premenstrual syndrome, and what affects them?
Randomised trial, 2017
Does yoga help with PMS symptoms?
Systematic review, 2026
Do mindfulness and relaxation techniques help with PMS symptoms?
Systematic review, 2024
Does yoga help reduce PMS symptoms?