Survey study, 2014
What psychological factors are linked to premenstrual syndrome?
Psychological factors like difficulty identifying emotions, low social support, neurotic personality, and anxiety are associated with PMS. The strongest link was difficulty identifying emotions, which increased PMS risk 4.39 times.
What they did
Cross-sectional study comparing 175 medical students with PMS to 175 without PMS in Iran. Researchers assessed psychological factors using questionnaires measuring depression, anxiety, stress, social support, personality, and difficulty identifying emotions.
What they found
Difficulty identifying emotions (alexithymia) had the strongest link with PMS at 4.39 times higher risk. Low social support increased risk 2.7 times. Neurotic personality increased risk 1.3 times. High anxiety increased risk 1.2 times.
What it means for you
Mental health and social factors may play a role in PMS. This suggests that addressing anxiety, building social support, and managing personality traits might help. The main limit is that this is a cross-sectional study, so we cannot prove these psychological factors cause PMS, only that they appear together.
350
female students (175 with PMS, 175 without)
4.39
times higher PMS risk with difficulty identifying emotions
2.7
times higher risk with low social support
About the study
- Original title
- Psychological Predictors of Premenstrual Syndrome
- Authors
- Mahbobeh Faramarzi, Farzan Kheirkhah, Sanaz Azadfrouz
- Journal
- International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal
- Year
- 2014
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 350
- What was tested
- None - observational comparison
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.9734/indj/2014/12638
Topics
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