Psychosocial factors in premenstrual dysphoria: Stressors, appraisal, and coping processes

doi:10.1016/0022-3999(94)90053-1

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Volume 38, Issue 6, August 1994, Pages 557-567

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90053-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Relationships between event content of daily stressors, appraisal of daily stressors, coping processes, and menstrual cycle phase were examined in women with premenstrual dysphoria (PMD) and controls. Seventy-eight women completed the Daily Rating Form, the Daily Coping Scale and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist—Revised on a daily basis during the premenstrual and postmenstrual phases. No premenstrual-postmenstrual differences in frequency of occurrence of stressors were reported. Academic and interpersonal stressors were the most frequently reported stressors during both cycle phases. PMD women appraised daily stressors as being more stressful, undesirable, and changeable premenstrually than postmenstrually as compared to controls. Catharsis was used more frequently premenstrually as compared to postmenstrually by PMD women. Premenstrually, women with PMD sought social support more frequently than controls. Interactive relationships between appraisal and coping style varied as a function of cycle phase for PMD women. A state-dependent model of menstrual-related mood changes is supported.

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The etiology of PMDD is an active area of investigation. Multiple potential contributors to PMDD have been studied, including genetic factors (Dubey et al., 2017; Goff et al., 2017; Yen et al., 2014), psychological and physiological responses to stress (Fontana and Palfai, 1994), and traumatic life events (Pilver et al., 2011). It has been suggested that the pathophysiology of PMDD is related to ovarian steroids and GABAergic and serotonergic neurotransmission (Lanza di Scalea and Pearlstein, 2019; Rapkin and Akopians, 2012).
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The human menstrual cycle (MC) has historically been the focus of myth and misinformation, leading to ideas that constrain women's activities.
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The lifetime prevalence of PMDD was 3.3%. Nativity status, duration of residence, and age at immigration were significantly associated with PMDD. Foreign-born women (OR = 0.38; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.21–0.68) and immigrants arriving to the US after age six (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.18, 0.62) were less likely to have PMDD, compared to US-born women, and US-born women/immigrants who arrived before age six, respectively. The likelihood of PMDD increased as the duration of residence in the US lengthened.
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Another important clinical correlate of premenstrual mood dysphoria is life stress. Several studies have shown an association between PMS/PMDD and stressful life events, including past sexual abuse in up to 40% of women,17–21 a substantially higher rate of sexual abuse than has been reported in the female general population.22 Premenstrual mood disturbance has also been associated with high levels of day-to-day stress.23
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Psychosocial factors in premenstrual dysphoria: Stressors, appraisal, and coping processes

Abstract

Psychiatric Clinic North Am

Stress, Appraisal, and Coping

State-dependent learning alterations in the perception of life events in menstrual-related mood disorders

Am J Psychiatry

The predictive role of psychosocial stress on symptom severity in premenstrual syndrome

Psychosom Med

Daily self-reports on activities, life events, moods, and somatic changes during the menstrual cycle

Psychosom Med

Major life events, daily stressors, and perimenstrual symptoms

Nurs Res

Event content in a daily survey is differentially associated with concurrent mood

J Per Soc Psychol

Classification of premenstrual syndromes