Survey study, 1975
Are women with premenstrual emotional symptoms more likely to have depression?
Yes, women with premenstrual emotional symptoms were twice as likely as controls to have a history of serious depression and twice as likely to have a family member with depression. This is a small study but with clearer definitions than some earlier research.
What they did
Cross-sectional study of 105 college freshmen. Researchers prospectively studied the link between premenstrual syndrome based on emotional symptoms and primary affective disorder. They looked at participants' personal and family history of depression and monitored them for one year.
What they found
Students with premenstrual symptoms were twice as likely as controls to have a history of serious depressive episodes and twice as likely to have a close family member with depression. Seven percent of women with premenstrual emotional symptoms had an affective episode during the following year, compared to none of the controls. Premenstrual syndrome did not interfere with academic performance.
What it means for you
PMS with emotional symptoms appears linked to depression history and family depression risk. It does not seem to affect school performance. The main limitation is the small sample size and that only one university population was studied.
105
college freshmen studied
2x
likelihood of serious depressive history
7%
with affective episode in the following year
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual symptoms and depression in a university population
- Authors
- Schuckit MA, Daly V, Herrman G et al.
- Journal
- Diseases of the nervous system
- Year
- 1975
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None; this was observational research
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1236786/
Topics
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