Non-randomised trial, 1991
Does personality type affect how women report premenstrual symptoms?
Women with neurotic personality traits reported more premenstrual symptoms than stable women, especially on retrospective questionnaires rather than daily records. This suggests how women are asked about symptoms matters as much as whether they have them.
What they did
Women in five general practices completed a daily health diary and a separate retrospective checklist about premenstrual changes. They also completed a personality inventory that classified them as neurotic or stable.
What they found
Neurotic women reported more premenstrual changes overall, particularly on the retrospective checklist. Stable women were less likely to give inconsistent answers between the two questionnaires. Retrospective checklists introduced response bias favoring high neuroticism.
What it means for you
Both personality and the measurement method affect how women report symptoms. Daily tracking may be more accurate than asking women to remember. Main limitation is no sample size given and this was a non-randomized study.
About the study
- Original title
- Relationship between personality and premenstrual symptoms: a study in five general practices
- Authors
- Taylor RJ, Fordyce ID, Alexander DA
- Journal
- The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
- Year
- 1991
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2031736/
Topics
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