Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavior Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Psychiatric Institute), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavior science, University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology, Student Research Committee, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: The goal of the present study was to investigate the prediction of severity of premenstrual syndrome based on traumatic life experiences and adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.
Methods: this was a descriptive-correlational study. The participants included a total of 207 adolescent girls studying in the high schools of Shiraz selected through convenience sampling method. The Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC) were used to gather data. Means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.
Results: The results indicated a significant relationship between premenstrual syndrome and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, so that catastrophizing predicted 37% of the variance of premenstrual syndrome. In addition, there was a significant relationship between premenstrual syndrome and traumatic events, so that threat to life/bizarre punishment/intense pain as a traumatic event, predicted 34% of the variance of premenstrual syndrome. However, no significant association was found between premenstrual syndrome and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies.
Conclusion: The results suggest that emotion regulation-based interventions and trainings can be useful in helping female students apply adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in coping with premenstrual syndrome.

Keywords

  1. Lee Y, Im EO. Stress and premenstrual symptoms in reproductive-aged women. Health Care Women Int 2016; 37(6):646-70.
  2. Tolossa FW, Bekele ML. Prevalence, impacts and medical managements of premenstrual syndrome among female students: cross-sectional study in college of health sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia. BMC Womens Health 2014; 14(1):52.
  3. Ryu A, Kim TH. Premenstrual syndrome: a mini review. Maturitas 2015; 82(4):436-40.
  4. Kahyaoglu Sut H, Mestogullari E. Effect of premenstrual syndrome on work-related quality of life in Turkish nurses. Saf Health Work 2016; 7(1):78-82.
  5. Heinemann LA, Minh TD, Heinemann K, Lindemann M, Filonenko A. Intercountry assessment of the impact of severe premenstrual disorders on work and daily activities. Health Care Women Int 2012; 33(2):109-124.
  6. Borenstein JE, Dean BB, Endicott J, Wong J, Brown C, Dickerson V, et al. Health and economic impact of the premenstrual syndrome. J Reprod Med 2003; 48(7):515-24.
  7. Ranjbaran M, Omani Samani R, Almasi-Hashiani A, Matourypour P, Moini A. Prevalence of premenstrual syndrome in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Reprod Biomed (Yazd) 2017; 15(11):679-86.
  8. Eggert L, Witthöft M, Hiller W, Kleinstäuber M. Emotion regulation in women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS): explicit and implicit assessments. Cognitive Therapy and Research 2016; 40(6):747-63.
  9. Vahia VN. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 5: a quick glance. Indian J Psychiatry 2013; 55(3):220-3.
  10. Takeda T, Tadakawa M, Koga S, Nagase S, Yaegashi N. Premenstrual symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder in Japanese high school students 9 months after the great East-Japan earthquake. Tohoku J Exp Med 2013; 230(3):151-4.
  11. Jung SJ, Roberts AL, Chocano-Bedoya P, Whitcomb BW, Missmer SA, Manson JE, et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder and development of premenstrual syndrome in a longitudinal cohort of women. Arch Womens Ment Health 2019; 22(4):535-9.
  12. Ussher JM, Perz J. PMS as a process of negotiation: women’s experience and management of premenstrual distress. Psychol Health 2013; 28(8):909-27.
  13. Khosravani V, Samimi Ardestani SM, Sharifi Bastan F, Mohammadzadeh A, Amirinezhad A. Childhood maltreatment, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and alcohol craving and dependence in alcohol-dependent males: direct and indirect pathways. Child Abuse Negl 2019; 98:104197.
  14. Wu M, Liang Y, Wang Q, Zhao Y, Zhou R. Emotion dysregulation of women with premenstrual syndrome. Scientific Reports 2016; 6:38501.
  15. Yen JY, Chang SJ, Long CY, Tang TC, Chen CC, Yen CF. Working memory deficit in premenstrual dysphoric disorder and its associations with difficulty in concentrating and irritability. Compr Psychiatry 2012; 53(5):540-5.
  16. Hashemi Y, Talepasand S, Alavi K. Psychometric properties of premenstrual symptoms screening tool among female students of Semnan University. Hayat 2014; 20(2):82-96. [In Persian].
  17. Garnefski N, Kraaij V. The cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire. European Journal of Psychological Assessment 2007; 23(3):141-9.
  18. Garnefski N, Kraaij V, Spinhoven P. Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual Differences 2001; 30(8):1311-27.
  19. Feliu-Soler A, Reche-Camba E, Borràs X, Pérez-Aranda A, Andrés-Rodríguez L, Peñarrubia-María MT, et al. Psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2075.
  20. Abdi S, Taban S, Ghaemian A. Cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire: Validity and reliability of Persian translation of CERQ-36 item. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 2012; 32:2-7.
  21. Cristofaro SL, Cleary SD, Ramsay Wan C, Broussard B, Chapman C, Haggard PJ, et al. Measuring trauma and stressful events in childhood and adolescence among patients with first-episode psychosis: initial factor structure, reliability, and validity of the trauma experiences checklist. Psychiatry Res 2013; 210(2):618-25.
  22. Nijenhuis ER, Van der Hart O, Kruger K. The psychometric characteristics of the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC): first findings among psychiatric outpatients. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 2002; 9(3):200-10.
  23. Sadeghi S, Dolatshahi B, Pourshahbaz A, Zarei M, Kami M. Relationship between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity in students. Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology 2017; 5(3):211-6.
  24. Petersen N, London ED, Liang L, Ghahremani DG, Gerards R, Goldman L, et al. Emotion regulation in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Arch Womens Ment Health 2016; 19(5):891-8.
  25. Manikandan S, Nillni YI, Zvolensky MJ, Rohan KJ, Carkeek KR, Leyro TM. The role of emotion regulation in the experience of menstrual symptoms and perceived control over anxiety-related events across the menstrual cycle. Arch Womens Ment Health 2016; 19(6):1109-17.
  26. Nillni YI, Rohan KJ, Zvolensky MJ. The role of menstrual cycle phase and anxiety sensitivity in catastrophic misinterpretation of physical symptoms during a CO 2 challenge. Arch Womens Ment Health 2012; 15(6):413-22.
  27. Soydas EA, Albayrak Y, Sahin B. Increased childhood abuse in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder in a Turkish sample: a cross-sectional study. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2014; 16(4).
  28. Takeda T, Shiina M. Effect of an educational program on adolescent premenstrual syndrome: lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Adolesc Health Med Ther 2018; 9:95-101.
  29. Bertone-Johnson ER, Whitcomb BW, Missmer SA, Manson JE, Hankinson SE, Rich-Edwards JW. Early life emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and the development of premenstrual syndrome: a longitudinal study. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2014; 23(9):729-39.
  30. Stark J, Thew C, Kulkarni J. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder and its association with complex trauma disorder: three cases. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2018; 52(9):904-5.
  31. Hou L, Huang Y, Zhou R. Premenstrual syndrome is associated with altered cortisol awakening response. Stress 2019; 22(6):640-6.
  32. Pineles SL, Nillni YI, Pinna G, Irvine J, Webb A, Arditte Hall KA, et al. PTSD in women is associated with a block in conversion of progesterone to the GABAergic neurosteroids allopregnanolone and pregnanolone measured in plasma. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; 93:133-41.
  33. Śliwerski A, Bielawska-Batorowicz E. Negative cognitive styles as risk factors for the occurrence of PMS and PMDD. J Reprod Infant Psychol 2019; 37(3):322-37.