Association between Neuroticism and Premenstrual Affective/Psychological Symptomatology

Abstract

Neuroticism and premenstrual conditions share pleiotropic loci and are strongly associated. It is presently not known which DSM-5 symptoms of premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual mood disorder are associated with neuroticism. We enrolled 45 study participants to provide prospective daily ratings of affective (“depression”, “anxiety, “anger”, “mood swings”) and psychological (“low interest”, “feeling overwhelmed”, and “difficulty concentrating”) symptoms across two-three menstrual cycles (128 total cycles). Generalized additive modeling (gam function in R) was implemented to model the relationships between neuroticism and the premenstrual increase in symptomatology. Significance level was adjusted using the False Discovery Rate method and models were adjusted for current age and age of menarche. Results of the association analysis revealed that “low interest” (p ≤ 0.05) and “difficulty concentrating” (p ≤ 0.001) were significantly associated with neuroticism. None of the remaining symptoms reached statistical significance. The late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle is characterized by complex symptomatology, reflecting a physiological milieu of numerous biological processes. By identifying co-expression between neuroticism and specific premenstrual symptomatology, the present study improves our understanding of the premenstrual conditions and provides a platform for individualized treatment developments.

Factors Associated with Premenstrual Syndrome among Nursing Students Based on the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms

“…The results of regression analysis showed that neuroticism and stress were positively correlated with PMS, which corresponded with prior research [54,[69][70][71]. The more neurotic an individual is, the more likely they are to experience PMS.…”

“…The more neurotic an individual is, the more likely they are to experience PMS. Neuroticism is the personality trait that refers to the tendency to be emotionally sensitive, moody, easily anxious, depressed, overly worried, and susceptible to negative emotions [54,69,70]. Higher levels of neuroticism are associated with more negative moods in daily life and more life stress [70], which may lead to more negative responses to premenstrual physical symptoms and attitudes toward menstruation, higher perceived depression and stress, and more PMS.…”

Reduced Dehydroepiandrosterone-Sulfate Levels in the Mid-Luteal Subphase of the Menstrual Cycle: Implications to Women’s Health Research

“…PHASE is a registered clinicaltrials.gov study (NCT03862469). The study is described in detail in Hamidovic et al [ 24 ]. In that publication, we have described an association between neuroticism and premenstrual affective/psychological symptomatology in a larger sample of PHASE participants.…”

Behavioral Symptomatology in the Premenstruum

“…The present analysis is a part of the Premenstrual Hormonal and Affective State Evaluation (PHASE) study in which reproductive-age women with regular menstrual cycles are enrolled to chart their symptoms using the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) [26], menstruation timing and ovulation during three menstrual cycles. PHASE is described in detail in Hamidovic et al [27]. PHASE is a registered clinicaltrials.gov study (NCT03862469).…”

“…Finally, the study participants did not have current (i.e., within the past 12 months) DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder or an anxiety disorder (based on SCID). Detailed inclusion/exclusion criteria can be found in Hamidovic et al [ 27 ].…”