Cohort study, 2025
Do pain sensitivity and negative thinking explain how trauma and stress cause PMS or PMDD?
Yes. Both heightened pain sensitivity and negative thinking patterns mediate the connection between past trauma or stress and premenstrual disorder symptoms.
What they did
A two-stage study. First, a survey of 228 women measured childhood trauma, stress levels, pain sensitivity, negative thinking patterns, and premenstrual symptoms. Second, a prospective follow-up of 90 women measured the same factors over time. Researchers tested whether pain sensitivity and thinking patterns explained the link between trauma or stress and premenstrual symptoms.
What they found
In the cross-sectional phase, both pain sensitivity and negative cognitive patterns mediated the trauma-to-premenstrual symptoms connection, with complete mediation found through the thinking pathway. In the prospective phase of 90 women, both variables partially mediated the relationship between past trauma and PMS or PMDD diagnosis. Complete mediation was found between baseline stress level and premenstrual symptoms.
What it means for you
How women think (particularly negative or pessimistic patterns) and how they perceive pain appear to be key mechanisms linking past trauma and stress to current premenstrual symptoms. These could be targets for psychological treatment such as cognitive therapy and pain management techniques. The study is observational, so causation cannot be definitively proven.
228
Women in cross-sectional phase
90
Women in prospective phase
Both pathways
Pain and thinking mediate
About the study
- Original title
- Pain Sensitivity and Depressive Triad Mediate the Relationship Between Trauma and Stress, and Symptoms of Premenstrual Disorders
- Authors
- Antosz-Rekucka R, Prochwicz K
- Journal
- Clinical psychology & psychotherapy
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 228
- What was tested
- None (observational study)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70062
Topics
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