---
title: Does mindfulness help with premenstrual symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes. Women who scored higher on mindfulness measures reported fewer premenstrual symptoms. Mindfulness also reduced how much negative attitudes about menstrua
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/relationships-among-premenstrual-symptom-reports-menstrual-attitudes-and-2011/
---

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- Does mindfulness help with premenstrual symptoms?

Survey study, 2011

# Does mindfulness help with premenstrual symptoms?

Yes. Women who scored higher on mindfulness measures reported fewer premenstrual symptoms. Mindfulness also reduced how much negative attitudes about menstruation affected symptom reporting.

 Moderate study design

127 women aged 18-26

## What they did

Researchers surveyed 127 women aged 18-26 and measured their mindfulness, attitudes toward menstruation, and how severe they reported premenstrual symptoms to be.

## What they found

Higher mindfulness scores showed a clear relationship with lower premenstrual symptom reports. There was a clear relationship between negative attitudes about menstruation and more severe symptoms, but mindfulness appeared to buffer this effect, especially for water retention and anticipation of menstruation onset.

## What it means for you

Mindfulness practices may help reduce premenstrual symptoms, particularly by reducing the impact of negative thoughts about menstruation. The main limits are that this was a small survey study, not an experiment, so we cannot say mindfulness definitely causes lower symptoms, and it only measured women in one narrow age range.

127

women studied

18-26

age range

## About the study

Original title Relationships Among Premenstrual Symptom Reports, Menstrual Attitudes, and Mindfulness Authors Lustyk MK, Gerrish WG, Douglas H et al. Journal Mindfulness Year 2011 Study design Survey study Participants 127 What was tested None; the study observed relationships between mindfulness, attitudes, and symptom reporting. Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0041-x](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0041-x)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Mindfulness and meditation](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-mindfulness/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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