--- title: How common is painful periods and premenstrual tension in teenage girls? description: Very common and worsens with age. Painful periods ranged from 7.2% in the first menstrual year to 26% five years later, reaching 56.5% by ages 17 to 20. Painf url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/dysmenorrhea-during-adolescence-1979/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How common is painful periods and premenstrual tension in teenage girls? Survey study, 1979 # How common is painful periods and premenstrual tension in teenage girls? Very common and worsens with age. Painful periods ranged from 7.2% in the first menstrual year to 26% five years later, reaching 56.5% by ages 17 to 20. Painful periods run in families. Moderate study design 5458 girls aged 10 to 20; also 331 girls aged 13 to 20; and 865 adult women ## What they did First study: 5458 girls aged 10 to 20 tracked painful menstruation over five years with comparison of mothers and daughters. Second: 331 girls aged 13 to 20 reported school absences. Third: 865 adult women reported menstrual pain and premenstrual tension. ## What they found Painful periods increased from 7.2% in first year to 26% five years later. At 13 to 14 years old, 36% had dysmenorrhea; by 17 to 20 years this rose to 56.5%. School absences due to pain were 23.4%. Mothers and daughters showed correlation for both dysmenorrhea and premenstrual tension. In adult women, 88% had premenstrual tension and 45% had menstrual pain. ## What it means for you Painful periods are very common in teenage girls and become more frequent with age. They run in families. Many girls miss school because of pain. This descriptive study did not test treatments, though the authors suggest modern pain relievers might help. 7.2% painful periods in first year 26% painful periods five years later 56.5% dysmenorrhea at ages 17 to 20 ## About the study Original title Dysmenorrhea during adolescence Authors Widholm O Journal Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica. Supplement Year 1979 Study design Survey study Participants 5,458 What was tested None (observational study) Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/00016347909157792](https://doi.org/10.3109/00016347909157792) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/) 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 Cohort study, 2025 How common is PMS in Chinese teenage girls, and what factors are linked to it? Survey study, 2026 Are menstrual characteristics linked to depression and anxiety in teenage girls? Survey study, 2025 Do menstrual problems and poor sleep affect mood and thinking in teenage girls? Survey study, 2025 What factors are linked to PMS in female graduate students? Survey study, 2023 Does connective tissue manipulation help dysmenorrhea pain and other symptoms? Survey study, 1964 How common are mood and physical changes around menstruation? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗