Relationships among perimenstrual symptoms, stressful life events, anxiety and cortisol levels

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stress and perimenstrual symptoms. Stress was studied in terms of major life events, self-reported anxiety, and blood cortisol levels. Fifteen women who demonstrated negative affect perimenstrual symptoms and seventeen women who were identified as asymptomatic charted their symptoms daily for three menstrual cycles. During this time, state anxiety and blood cortisol levels were measured twice a week. The results of this study support a positive relationship between stressful life events, trait anxiety, state anxiety, and perimenstrual symptoms. However, cortisol levels were not correlated with either perimenstrual symptoms or state anxiety. There was a difference between the symptomatic and the asymptomatic groups in terms of stressful life events and trait anxiety. There was also a significant difference in state anxiety between the two groups when measured during the perimenstrual phase, however, not during the postmenstrual phase. There were no significant changes in cortisol levels between groups or cycle phases.