title: Psychosocial Profile of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome and Healthy Controls: A Comparative Study.
abstract: According to modern bio-psychosocial theories of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), the aim of this study is to investigate systematically associations between selected psychosocial factors and premenstrual symptoms in different menstrual cycle phases.
  
  
  
  Several psychosocial variables were assessed, in a sample of German women with PMS (N = 90) and without premenstrual complaints (N = 48) during the follicular and luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Presence of PMS was indicated by analysis of contemporary daily ratings of premenstrual symptom severity and impairment for one menstrual cycle.
  
  
  
  Regarding perceived chronic stress (ƞ2= 0.34), self-efficacy (ƞ2= 0.12), and two dimensions of self-silencing (0.06 ≤ ƞ2≤ 0.11) analyses revealed only a significant effect of group. Regarding body dissatisfaction and somatosensory amplification, a significant effect of group (0.07 ≤ ƞ2≤ 0.16) and additionally a group by menstrual cycle phase interaction (ƞ2= 0.06) was identified. Regarding relationship quality, a significant effect of menstrual cycle phase (ƞ2= 0.08) and a group by menstrual cycle phase interaction (ƞ2= 0.06) was demonstrated. In respect to sexual contentment, acceptance of premenstrual symptoms, and the remaining two dimensions of self-silencing statistical analyses revealed no effects at all. Linear multiple regression analysis revealed that 20 % of the variance in PMS symptom severity was explained by the psychosocial variables investigated. Body dissatisfaction (ß = 0.26, p = 0.018) and the divided self-dimension of self-silencing (ß = 0.35, p = 0.016) were significant correlates of PMS severity.
  
  
  
  Results of this study are consistent with previous research and additionally show patterns of associations between specific psychosocial factors and PMS in dependence of menstrual cycle phase that have not been researched before. The role of the psychosocial variables we investigated in regard to the development and maintenance of PMS should be clarified in future research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany. maria.kleinstaeuber@staff.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleinstäuber
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmelzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ditzen
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hiller
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.|Department of Behavioral Sciences, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weise
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D011293:Premenstrual Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: PMDD; PMS; Premenstrual dysphoric disorder; Premenstrual syndrome; Psychosocial factor