Women's experience of the menstrual cycle

The present study was concerned with the evaluation of a number of factors which have claimed to be associated with women's experience of the menstrual cycle. The experience was assessed by obtaining self-report measures of mood, sexual arousal and attribution about feelings among women. These factors were related to cycle phase, awareness of phase and number and severity of symptoms. The results indicated that there were no significant differences among the phase groups in strength of mood or number and severity of symptoms. There was a positive relationship between number and severity of symptoms and strength of mood. The results suggest that both culturally held attitudes towards menstruation and biological events should be considered in any explanation of a woman's experience of the menstrual cycle.