--- title: What causes negative mood during menopause? | Niyora description: The menopause transition itself and hormone levels do not directly cause negative mood. Instead, past premenstrual problems, negative attitudes to aging, life url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/mood-and-the-menopausal-transition-1999/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - What causes negative mood during menopause? Cohort study, 1999 # What causes negative mood during menopause? The menopause transition itself and hormone levels do not directly cause negative mood. Instead, past premenstrual problems, negative attitudes to aging, life stress, health problems, smoking, low exercise, and relationship issues are the main causes. Strong study design 354 Australian mid-aged community women ## What they did 6 annual prospective assessments in 354 Australian community women of mid-age. Used repeated measures multivariate analysis to test which variables predicted negative mood, including menopausal status, FSH, estradiol, inhibin, premenstrual history, attitudes, health, stress, and relationships. ## What they found Negative mood scores decreased over time and were NOT related to natural menopausal transition, FSH, estradiol, inhibin, age, or education. Mood was predicted by baseline premenstrual complaints, negative attitudes to aging and menopause, and parity of one. During follow-up, mood worsened by prior negative mood, bothersome symptoms, poor health, negative partner feelings, smoking, low exercise, and daily hassles. Mood improved by reducing symptoms, improving health, positive partner feelings, gaining a partner, and reducing stress. ## What it means for you Hormone changes of menopause alone do not cause mood problems. Instead, midlife stress, health, relationships, and lifestyle factors are the key drivers of mood during this transition. This suggests mood support should focus on these factors, not just hormone treatment. Study limited to Australian women and may not apply elsewhere. 354 women in the study 6 annual assessments over study period ## About the study Original title Mood and the menopausal transition Authors Dennerstein L, Lehert P, Burger H et al. Journal The Journal of nervous and mental disease Year 1999 Study design Cohort study Participants 354 What was tested None (observational) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199911000-00006](https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199911000-00006) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Alcohol, smoking and substance use](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-substance-use/)[Perimenopause and menopause](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-perimenopause/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/) 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 Survey study, 1998 Does a history of premenstrual problems predict worse symptoms during menopause? Survey study, 2023 Is there a link between PMS symptoms and how the nervous system controls heart rate? Survey study, 2025 What psychological and personal factors predict which university students will develop premenstrual syndrome? Survey study, 2025 Is PMS connected to mental health problems and lifestyle choices? Survey study, 2024 Which lifestyle choices affect PMS symptoms? Systematic review, 2020 Does smoking increase the risk of getting PMS? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗