Dysmenorrhea and personality

The experiment examined whether reliable personality differences exist between (a) women who suffer from spasmodic and congestive dysmenorrhea and (b) women who experience dysmenorrhea and women who do not. A sample of 12 congestive dysmenorrhea sufferers, 12 spasmodic dysmenorrhea suffers, and 24 nonsufferers obtained from a larger sample of university women, completed the Menstrual Symptom Questionnaire, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and Personality Research Form. Results indicated that congestive sufferers differed from spasmodic sufferers only in their level of impulsivity. However, dysmenorrhea sufferers differed significantly from nonsufferers in that dysmenorrhea sufferers were more similar to a neurotic sample, were depressed, anxious and introverted, and less independent, playful, satisfied with themselves, positive about their physical and social selves than nonsufferers. In spite of these differences, standard scores from the personality measures suggested that dysmenorrhea sufferers were not maladjusted.