Study, 1994
Do women with irregular periods have different premenstrual mood changes than women with regular periods?
No. Both women with irregular and regular periods showed similar increases in anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, and feelings of inadequacy before their period, suggesting the mood changes are not caused by negative expectations.
What they did
Researchers studied 13 women with irregular periods and 12 women with regular periods. Each woman reported her symptoms once a week for 5 to 9 weeks. Researchers measured hormone levels to confirm when each woman was ovulating and tracked anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, and feelings of inadequacy.
What they found
Both groups showed a clear increase in total symptoms during the week before their period compared to other times of the month. Both groups reported higher anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, and feelings of inadequacy before menstruation. These premenstrual changes appeared in both women with irregular and regular periods.
What it means for you
Premenstrual mood and physical changes occur in both women with irregular and regular periods. This suggests the symptoms may not be caused just by negative expectations or cycle length, but rather by something about the menstrual cycle itself. However, this study was small and lasted only 5 to 9 weeks, so longer studies in larger groups would help confirm these findings.
13
Women with irregular periods
12
Women with regular periods
5-9
Weeks of tracking for each woman
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual-related mood changes in patients with oligomenorrhea
- Authors
- Facchinetti F, Neri I, Fava M et al.
- Journal
- Gynecologic and obstetric investigation
- Year
- 1994
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 12
- What was tested
- None (symptom tracking)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1159/000292463
Original abstract
In order to evaluate the role of negative anticipation on self-report of premenstrual symptoms, we studied 13 oligomenorrheic and 12 control women with regular menses. Both hormonal and psychological measures (using the Symptom Rating Test) were obtained once a week for 5-9 weeks. The presence of ovulatory cycles was confirmed by progesterone levels > or = 3.0 ng/ml. In both groups, there was a significant increase in the total Symptom Rating Test score during the premenstrual phase with respect to the intermenstrual period. As far as specific symptoms were concerned, MANOVA showed significant premenstrual fluctuations in anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, and inadequacy in both groups. These results suggest that premenstrual discomfort may be unrelated to both cycle length and negative anticipation of one's menses.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
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