Aggression in Adolescent Girls: Role of Depressive Mood, Dysphoric Disorder and Premenstrual Syndrome

Aggression is a destructive experience in terms of social and public health. The aim of the present research was to determine the role of depressive mood¡ Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) in adolescent girls'' aggression.
In the present cross-section-analytical study 510 female students were selected by multistage cluster sampling from Lahijan and Sangar high schools (northern Iran) in the 2014-2015 academic years and each of them responded to the short version of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13)¡ Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) and Ahvaz Aggression Inventory (AAI). Data were analyzed by Point–biserial and Pearson''s correlation coefficients¡ Univariate Analysis of Covariance (UNIANCOVA) in the form of 2×3 factorial design and Hochberg''s GT2 post hoc test were also employed.
The questionnaires of 475 students were returned correctly (survey validity=93%). The results of UNIANCOVA after adjustment for confounding variables such as age and history of physical illness revealed that the existence of main effect for depressive mood (F= 31.50¡ df=1¡ P0.05). Also¡ post hoc tests revealed no significant differences between the diagnosis of PMS or PMDD in terms of aggression (P>0.05).
Depressed adolescent girls and those who receive a PMS or PMDD diagnosis¡ will develop more aggression. These findings can be used in high schools for designing the educational and health-based interventions in order to reduce and prevent from anger and resentment in adolescent girls.