Women’s Spontaneous Coping Styles to Withstand Premenstrual Symptoms: A Thematic Analysis

It seems that women have their own personal ways to manage Premenstrual Symptoms (PMS) before seeking professional treatment. Therefore, the present study has attempted to clarify the unprompted coping styles to withstand PMS using a thematic analysis method. A thematic analysis method has been used in this study. The population included the university students studying in the academic year of 2022 and 2023. The sampling method in this research was done using purposive sampling. Data collection was performed via in-depth semi-structured interviews that took place on the Google Meet platform. All of the audio files were written word by word on the same day. The data analysis was done via MAXQDA-2020. The number of eligible participants was eleven, between 27 to 34 years old. On the whole, the analysis demonstrated five groups of themes each with some subthemes (Purposeful/Purposeless Overwork, Accessible Comforter, Passivity, Help-seeking, trying to stay conscious). According to the findings of the present study it can be stated that spontaneous strategies to manage PMS have certain characteristics that can be classified into five main themes; So, the identified themes can be a clue that women are prepared to accept the behavioral measures when faced with PMS, because they themselves already use these kinds of methods spontaneously.