Skip to content

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

Topics