Premenstrual syndrome and personality traits: a study on 110 pregnant patients

Five specific personality traits (emotivity, acceptance of sexual role, parental aptness, anxiety and depression) have been analyzed for this study of the premenstrual syndrome (PMS), conducted on a group of 110 women in advanced (8th month) pregnancy. The comparison of the results from the personality tests and from the overall assessment of the PMS (82%) establishes definite correlations between the syndrome's intensity and the tendency toward a pathologic personality. A further correlation of each personality trait and of the PMS shows that the greater deviation from normalcy affects not only those women who suffer from a severe PMS, but also those who complain of no premenstrual symptoms at all. Such a finding (as shown in the results of a separate previous study by our group) allows to conclude that a psychological normalcy or balance finds its equivalent in an absence, but more often in a scarce presence of premenstrual complaints, while an absolute absence or a very marked intensity of these complaints should correspond to the more extreme degrees of personality disturbance.