Survey study, 1995
Are certain personality traits linked to PMS?
Women with PMS have higher scores on harm avoidance and novelty seeking compared to the general population. These traits are modestly linked to specific symptom patterns.
What they did
They tested personality in 157 women with PMS using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and compared them with 20 women with major depression and 24 women with both depression and PMS.
What they found
PMS women had significantly higher scores on all three personality dimensions compared to general population norms. Harm avoidance was modestly correlated with depression and physical aches in the premenstrual period. Novelty seeking was modestly correlated with food cravings, headaches, and mood swings. Personality factors only partially characterize PMS.
What it means for you
Certain personality traits appear linked to specific PMS symptom patterns, which might help predict how symptoms will present. However, the sample was small and associations were modest, meaning personality explains only a small part of PMS.
157
Women with PMS
20
Women with major depression
24
Women with depression and PMS
About the study
- Original title
- Personality factors in women with premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Freeman EW, Schweizer E, Rickels K
- Journal
- Psychosomatic medicine
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 24
- What was tested
- Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199509000-00007
Topics
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