Relationships Among Premenstrual Symptom Reports, Menstrual Attitudes, and Mindfulness

Abstract

The physical and affective symptoms of a broad range of conditions are improved following mindfulness-based practices. One set of symptoms that has yet to be explored through the lens of mindfulness, however, is that associated with the premenstruum. Also, given the relationships among negative attitudes towards menstruation and amplified symptom reporting, it is reasonable to expect that mindfulness qualities cultivated through practices aimed at dispelling negative anticipatory and judgmental thinking will moderate these relationships. Thus, in this study we examined interrelationships among premenstrual symptom severity reports (PMSR), menstrual attitudes, and mindfulness qualities in a sample of 127 women (age range 18–26 years). Results revealed several statistically significant positive relationships between menstrual attitudes and PMSR. Also, higher scores on measures of mindfulness were significantly associated with lower PMSR. Moderating effects revealed that mindfulness significantly buffered the relationships between menstrual attitudes and PMSR, specifically between: anticipation of menses onset and PMSR as well as anticipation of menses onset and premenstrual water retention. These results may offer the first empirical evidence of relationships among menstrual attitudes, PMSR, and mindfulness qualities. Results from this study align with the body of research showing that mindfulness is predictive of improved symptomatology and well-being across varied conditions. We conclude with discussion supporting the development of a mindfulness-based intervention aimed at reducing symptom severity in premenstrual symptom sufferers.

Relationship between Mindfulness and Premenstrual Syndrome among Faculty Nursing Students

“…Their results revealed higher scores on measures of mindfulness and were significantly associated with lower premenstrual syndrome report. They concluded that their results align with the body of research demonstrating that mindfulness is predictive of improved symptomatology and well-being across varied conditions, as well mindfulness was associated with less severe premenstrual symptoms (36) .…”

Effect of Brief Mindfulness Induction on University Athletes’ Sleep Quality Following Night Training

“…As training intensity or fatigue induced by training has been found to affect athletes’ sleep ( Buchheit et al, 2016 ; Li et al, 2017 ), future studies can target various populations such as elite athletes including those with severe sleep problems under varying training intensity to see whether the current study findings can be replicated. Third, gender effects were not extensively evaluated in this study, and would be worthy of further investigation as menstrual cycle has been known to be affect sleep ( Baker and Driver, 2007 ) while mindfulness has been proposed as a possible remedial strategy in this regard ( Lustyk et al, 2011 ). Finally, self-reported measures were used to measure sleep parameters, and future research should use objective assessments of sleep such as through tri-axial accelerometer ( Nam et al, 2016 ).…”

Ways of coping with premenstrual change: development and validation of a premenstrual coping measure

“…The identification of this subscale is also consistent with research showing that distancing, which includes acceptance of a stressor [ 38 ], is associated with less premenstrual symptom severity [ 37 ]. Acceptance of experience is also a quality of mindfulness [ 56 , 57 ] which has been suggested to have relevance in reducing premenstrual distress [ 34 , 58 ] and symptom severity [ 59 ].…”