The
Relationship Between Confirmed Premenstrual Dysphoria and Behaviour
and Mood Changes
A. Christensen & T.P. Oei |
Although
there has been an association between personality variables and premenstrual
distress, very little has been done to identify the relationships
between different types of premenstrual changes. This study investigated
this issue using 80 female undergraduate students. The results confirmed
an earlier study by suggesting that undergraduate females, who experience
dysphoric changes premenstrually, report higher levels of state and
trait anxiety and more frequent negative automatic thoughts compared
to others. This relationship was apparent in women who were informed
about the study's premenstrual theme as well as in those who were
not. The Premenstrual Assessment Form (PAF) was used to assess other
premenstrual physical, behavioural and mood changes in women with
prospectively confirmed (PMD+) and unconfirmed (PMD-) premenstrual
dysphoria. Compared to usual nonpremenstrual times, the PMD+ women
differed from PMD- women on one of the 18 PAF unipolar subscales,
viz. anxiety. The utility of the PAF in future research is outlined.
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