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Self-Focused Attention and Symptoms Across Menstrual Cycle Phases in Women With and Without Premenstrual Disorders

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Abstract

Premenstrual disorders, which include premenstrual dysphoric disorder and premenstrual syndrome involve cyclically occurring affective, behavioral, and physical symptoms. Despite high comorbidity rates and symptom overlap with mood and anxiety disorders, there has been a lack of research investigating psychological constructs that contribute to etiology and/or maintenance of premenstrual disorders. The current study hypothesized that self-focused attention (SFA) on emotional and somatic symptoms may contribute to premenstrual distress. Participants were 61 women, including 29 women with a premenstrual disorder (PMD subgroup) and 32 controls. Participants rated symptoms and SFA responses each day for 30 days. Findings indicated that women in the PMD group reported greater use of SFA responses to symptoms compared to the control group, and during the premenstrual compared to intermenstrual phases. SFA partially mediated the relationship between menstrual cycle phase and symptoms. The interaction between physiological menstrual cycle changes and psychological contributions provides a more comprehensive explanation for premenstrual disorders, and future research is warranted to clarify this relationship.

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Notes

  1. Specific phobia not excluded because these are triggered by specific stimuli and not expected to influence the results of the study.

  2. Concerning differences in recruitment sources, the PMD group (n = 29) included 10 undergraduate women and 19 community members, whereas the control group (n = 32) included 18 undergraduates and 14 community women. This difference was not statistically significant, χ 2(1, N = 61) = 2.90, p = .088.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Julia R. Craner

  2. University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Sandra T. Sigmon

  3. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA

    Michael A. Young

Authors
  1. Julia R. Craner
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Correspondence to Julia R. Craner.

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Conflict of Interest

Drs. Julia R. Craner, Sandra T. Sigmon and Michael A. Young declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained prior to conducting this study, and study procedures conformed to ethical guidelines for research involving human subjects

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (national and institutional). Informed consent was obtained from all individual subjects participating in the study.

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No animal subjects were used in this research.

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Craner, J.R., Sigmon, S.T. & Young, M.A. Self-Focused Attention and Symptoms Across Menstrual Cycle Phases in Women With and Without Premenstrual Disorders. Cogn Ther Res 40, 118–127 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9721-5

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