---
title: Does emotion-focused therapy reduce PMS severity? | Niyora
description: Both individual and couple emotion-focused therapy significantly reduced PMS symptoms (p≤0.001), with effects that remained stable over time. There was no sig
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/comparison-of-the-effect-of-individual-and-couple-emotion-focused-therapy-on-the-2021/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Does emotion-focused therapy reduce PMS severity?

Non-randomised trial, 2021

# Does emotion-focused therapy reduce PMS severity?

Both individual and couple emotion-focused therapy significantly reduced PMS symptoms (p≤0.001), with effects that remained stable over time. There was no significant difference between the two therapy types.

 Early or limited evidence

54 married women in Tehran with premenstrual disorders

## What they did

A quasi-experimental study with 54 married women in Tehran divided into three groups: two received emotion-focused therapy (one individual, one couples) and one control group. Researchers measured PMS severity before treatment, after treatment, and at follow-up using a standardized questionnaire.

## What they found

The mean severity of premenstrual symptoms decreased significantly in both therapy groups compared to pretest (p≤0.001). The results remained stable at follow-up. Individual and couple therapy were similarly effective.

## What it means for you

Emotion-focused therapy appears to help reduce PMS symptoms, though this is a small study without random assignment. It only included married women in one city, so findings may not apply to all women with PMS.

54

women studied

p≤0.001

significance level for symptom improvement

3

measurement timepoints (pre, post, follow-up)

## About the study

Original title Comparison of the effect of individual and couple Emotion Focused Therapy on the severity of premenstrual symptoms on Women with premenstrual Disorders Authors Neda Javadi, Shirin Kooshki, Fatemeh Golshani et al. Journal medical journal of mashhad university of medical sciences Year 2021 Study design Non-randomised trial Participants 54 What was tested Individual or couple emotion-focused therapy Read the paper [doi.org/10.22038/mjms.2021.18504](https://doi.org/10.22038/mjms.2021.18504)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)

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

Systematic review, 2026

What is it like for women to live with PMS or PMDD?

Systematic review, 2025

Is there a link between stress, trauma, and premenstrual symptoms?

Cohort study, 2025

Is there a link between premenstrual disorders and autoimmune disease?

Cohort study, 2024

Do women with severe premenstrual disorders have higher risk of relationship breakup?

Cohort study, 2024

Is there a link between sleep and menstrual problems in teenage girls?

Randomised trial, 2023

Does taking sertraline when PMDD symptoms start improve how well women function?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗