Investigating the relationship between Premenstrual Syndrome and personality traits in married women of Rasht

Premenstrual syndrome is one of the common problems of women who are in the reproductive age. It manifests itself with a series of physical and psychological symptoms, which can cause the afflicted women some defects in different fields such as family, occupation and education. Due to the high prevalence and importance of factors associated with this syndrome, this study, conducted in Rasht, aimed to investigate the relationship between PMS and personality traits in married women.
In this cross-sectional -comparative study: 146 married women, aged 18 to 45, who referred to health centers of Rasht were selected as a sample group via available sampling. The sample group completed the assessment list of physical and mood PMS symptoms, which its reliability was observed from 0.86 to 0.92, in three consecutive cycles and also answered the S (self-reported) form of NEOPI-R test which chronbachʹs alpha is 0.76. Using the DSM-5, 100 women from sample group, who were suffering from PMS and 46 women, did not meet the criteria of premenstrual syndrome. The gathered data was analyzed using SPSS software and independent t-test.
Women with premenstrual syndrome symptoms have significantly higher scores in neuroticism (P=0.001) and agreeableness (P=0.003) rather than women without the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.
Taking into account the differences of personality traits in women with and without PMS, the high prevalence and the importance of this syndrome: it seems to be essential to increase awareness about the symptoms and the psychological consequences of PMS, as well as to perform screening and referring processes in order to take advantage of the advisory services for women suffering from PMS.