Relationship between Adverse Mood Effects of Combined Oral Contraceptives and Personality Factors

Adverse moo effects such as depressed mood, anger irritability and anxiety are the most commonly reported reason for discontinuation of combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare personality factors in women with different experiences of adverse mood symptoms associated with combined oral contraceptives and those who do not use. Accordingly, 236 people (123 women currently on COCs with no reports of adverse mood symptoms, 113 women currently on COCs and experiencing adverse mood effects) fill out the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Findings showed that women with adverse mood effects of COCs exhibited higher scores on conscientiousness (p=.016) and neuroticism (p=.046) dimensions compared to COC users with no adverse effects of COCs. Consequently, self-report of adverse mood effects from COCs could be in flaenced by specific personality dimensions.