---
title: Does stress make PMS symptoms worse? | Niyora
description: No. Stress accounted for only 6 to 10 percent of symptom changes. Individual women showed no link between how stressed they felt and how severe their PMS was.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-predictive-role-of-psychosocial-stress-on-symptom-severity-in-premenstrual-1990/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Does stress make PMS symptoms worse?

Survey study, 1990

# Does stress make PMS symptoms worse?

No. Stress accounted for only 6 to 10 percent of symptom changes. Individual women showed no link between how stressed they felt and how severe their PMS was.

 Moderate study design

25 women with severe PMS without other psychiatric disorders

## What they did

Twenty-five women with severe PMS were followed for three consecutive menstrual cycles. They measured stress, mood, physical symptoms, and hormone levels every day.

## What they found

Stress accounted for only 6% of unique variance in physical symptom scores and 10% of unique variance in mood scores across the menstrual cycle. In individual women, there was no association between the severity of symptoms and the cumulative daily stress reported during each cycle.

## What it means for you

Stress does not explain why women get PMS. Even in women without other mental health conditions, more stressful days did not lead to worse PMS symptoms. This suggests PMS has biological causes beyond stress. However, this study only looked at women without other psychiatric disorders, so findings may not apply to all women.

25

women with severe PMS

3

consecutive menstrual cycles tracked

6%-10%

variance in symptoms explained by stress

## About the study

Original title The predictive role of psychosocial stress on symptom severity in premenstrual syndrome Authors Beck LE, Gevirtz R, Mortola JF Journal Psychosomatic medicine Year 1990 Study design Survey study What was tested Daily measurement of stress, mood, physical symptoms, and hormone levels Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199009000-00006](https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199009000-00006)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)

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.

## Related studies

Cohort study, 2025

How common is PMS in Chinese teenage girls, and what factors are linked to it?

Review, 2025

How do stress hormone levels change during the menstrual cycle and how does this affect health?

Randomised trial, 2024

Does curcumin reduce depression, anxiety, and stress in women with PMS and dysmenorrhea?

Survey study, 2026

Does stress affect premenstrual symptoms in female athletes, and can coping strategies help?

Survey study, 2026

Is PMS worse in medical students with higher stress?

Study, 2026

Does how women's body responds to stress change across their menstrual cycle?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗