Psychological State Comparison of Female Students of High Schools and Female Students of Universities during Menstrual Times

The experience of psychological, biological and bodily processes related to menstruation mostly because stress, so these signs and their interfering with daily living emphasize attention to this phenomenon.

Design of this research is causative-comparative. Because of this, 50 female students were selected from one of the high schools of Tehran central area, and 100 female students were selected from one of the universities of Tehran, by voluntary sampling method. Subjects were experienced two times: first time, from before a week of menstruation to first or secondary day after menstruation and second time, during 10 or 15 days after last day of menstruation. Each time, subjects completed “Symptom Checklist-90- Revised”. Data was selected by SPSS and using paired samples t – test.

Significant differences were reported in bodily complaint, depression, obsessive compulsive and anxiety facets between menstrual and no menstrual periods, in female students of high schools, and only in bodily complaint facet between menstrual and no menstrual periods, in female students of universities.

Reduction of reported psychological facets from female students of the high schools to female students of universities, between menstrual and no menstrual periods, could be explained according to “Response shift theory”. It means that female students of the universities may have more opportunities for adjusting premenstrual symptoms than female students of high schools.