Survey study, 2018
Can a questionnaire reliably measure how women cope with premenstrual symptoms?
Yes, researchers developed and tested a 12-item questionnaire that reliably measures two main ways women cope with premenstrual symptoms: seeking positive activities and seeking support. This tool can help assess coping strategies.
What they did
Researchers developed a 33-item questionnaire about coping with premenstrual changes and tested it with 150 women diagnosed with PMDD or severe PMS using exploratory factor analysis. They then confirmed the structure in a second sample of 89 women using confirmatory factor analysis.
What they found
The 33-item questionnaire was reduced to a 12-item scale with two factors: seeking positive affect-inducing activities (Cronbach's alpha 0.73) and seeking support (Cronbach's alpha 0.71). A potential three-factor solution including healthcare use behavior showed Cronbach's alpha values of 0.70 to 0.72.
What it means for you
The Premenstrual Change Coping Inventory is a valid and reliable tool for measuring how women cope with premenstrual symptoms. This is primarily a methodological study about developing a measurement tool, not about whether particular coping strategies actually help improve symptoms. The sample sizes are modest.
150
women in development sample
89
women in validation sample
12
items in final questionnaire
About the study
- Original title
- Methods for coping with premenstrual change: Development and validation of the German Premenstrual Change Coping Inventory
- Authors
- Kaiser G, Kues JN, Kleinstäuber M et al.
- Journal
- Women & health
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 150
- What was tested
- None (questionnaire development and validation study)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2017.1377802
Topics
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