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Psychosocial Profile of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome and Healthy Controls: A Comparative Study

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Abstract

Purpose

According to modern bio-psychosocial theories of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), the aim of this study is to investigate systematically associations between selected psychosocial factors and premenstrual symptoms in different menstrual cycle phases.

Method

Several psychosocial variables were assessed, in a sample of German women with PMS (N = 90) and without premenstrual complaints (N = 48) during the follicular and luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Presence of PMS was indicated by analysis of contemporary daily ratings of premenstrual symptom severity and impairment for one menstrual cycle.

Results

Regarding perceived chronic stress (ƞ 2 = 0.34), self-efficacy (ƞ 2 = 0.12), and two dimensions of self-silencing (0.06 ≤ ƞ 2 ≤ 0.11) analyses revealed only a significant effect of group. Regarding body dissatisfaction and somatosensory amplification, a significant effect of group (0.07 ≤ ƞ 2 ≤ 0.16) and additionally a group by menstrual cycle phase interaction (ƞ 2 = 0.06) was identified. Regarding relationship quality, a significant effect of menstrual cycle phase (ƞ 2 = 0.08) and a group by menstrual cycle phase interaction (ƞ 2 = 0.06) was demonstrated. In respect to sexual contentment, acceptance of premenstrual symptoms, and the remaining two dimensions of self-silencing statistical analyses revealed no effects at all. Linear multiple regression analysis revealed that 20 % of the variance in PMS symptom severity was explained by the psychosocial variables investigated. Body dissatisfaction (ß = 0.26, p = 0.018) and the divided self-dimension of self-silencing (ß = 0.35, p = 0.016) were significant correlates of PMS severity.

Conclusion

Results of this study are consistent with previous research and additionally show patterns of associations between specific psychosocial factors and PMS in dependence of menstrual cycle phase that have not been researched before. The role of the psychosocial variables we investigated in regard to the development and maintenance of PMS should be clarified in future research.

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Acknowledgments

We give special thanks to Alexander Alasjö for setting up the online questionnaire system, and Carolin Schilder, Jasmin Kämmerer, as well as Christine Ertz for supporting us with recruiting participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany

    Maria Kleinstäuber & Cornelia Weise

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Katarina Schmelzer & Wolfgang Hiller

  3. Department of Medical Psychology, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany

    Beate Ditzen

  4. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Gerhard Andersson & Cornelia Weise

  5. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Gerhard Andersson

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  1. Maria Kleinstäuber
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Correspondence to Maria Kleinstäuber.

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Conflict of Interest

Maria Kleinstäuber, Katarina Schmelzer, Beate Ditzen, Gerhard Andersson, Wolfgang Hiller, and Cornelia Weise declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kleinstäuber, M., Schmelzer, K., Ditzen, B. et al. Psychosocial Profile of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome and Healthy Controls: A Comparative Study. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 752–763 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9564-9

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