---
title: Does having a mother with PMS affect a daughter's symptoms? | Niyora
description: Adolescents and adults experience similar severity of premenstrual symptoms, but when mothers have PMS, both mothers and daughters tend to experience signific
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/firstborn-adolescent-daughters-and-mothers-with-and-without-premenstrual-1991/
---

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- Does having a mother with PMS affect a daughter's symptoms?

Cohort study, 1991

# Does having a mother with PMS affect a daughter's symptoms?

Adolescents and adults experience similar severity of premenstrual symptoms, but when mothers have PMS, both mothers and daughters tend to experience significantly more premenstrual symptoms than families without PMS. This suggests PMS may run in families.

 Moderate study design

Firstborn adolescent daughters and mothers with and without PMS

## What they did

Researchers compared firstborn adolescent daughters and their mothers with PMS to families without PMS. They tracked symptoms during two menstrual cycles using symptom questionnaires and identified when ovulation occurred using a home ovulation test.

## What they found

There were no significant differences in symptom severity between adolescents and adults during the premenstrual and postmenstrual phases. However, when daughters and mothers were grouped by the mother's diagnosis, PMS mother-daughter pairs experienced significantly more premenstrual symptoms than non-PMS mother-daughter pairs. Adolescents experienced significantly more symptoms during their actual period than adults did.

## What it means for you

Having a mother with PMS appears associated with experiencing more premenstrual symptoms, suggesting a possible family pattern. However, the study did not specify sample size or measure genetic factors specifically.

2

menstrual cycles tracked

## About the study

Original title Firstborn adolescent daughters and mothers with and without premenstrual syndrome: a comparison Authors Wilson CA, Turner CW, Keye WR Jr Journal The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine Year 1991 Study design Cohort study What was tested None; comparison study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/0197-0070(91)90455-u](https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-0070(91)90455-u)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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