Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Zurich Study

XIX. Patterns of menstrual disturbances in the community: results of the Zurich Cohort Study

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

This paper reports on the prevalence of emotional and somatic symptoms of the pre- and peri-menstrual phases of the female reproductive cycle among women who participated in a 10-year prospective epidemiologic cohort study of young adults in Zurich, Switzerland. The association between menstrual syndrome and sociodemographic features, personal habits, and psychopathologyis investigated. The findings confirm those of previous studies, which have shown that symptoms of menstrual syndrome are quite common in non-clinical samples in the community, and increase with age. Women with menstrual problems could be distinguished from other women in a number of domains, including demographic characteristics such as nulliparity, higher educational level, distressing life events, lack of oral contraceptive use, psychiatric disorders, and personality traits. The combined evidence for a strong association between menstrual syndrome and anxiety, both in the subjects and their relatives, suggests that menstrual problems may represent a manifestation of underlying anxiety disorders rather than strictly affective disorders as traditionally believed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition-Revised. American Psychiatric Association. Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersch B, Wendestam C, Hahn L, et al (1986) Premenstrual complaints. I. Prevalence of premenstrual symptoms in a Swedish urban population. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol 5:39–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Angst J, Clayton PJ (1986) Premorbid personality of depressive, bipolar, and schizophrenic patients with special reference to suicidal issues. Compr Psychiatry 27:511–532

    Google Scholar 

  • Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A, Binder J (1984) The Zurich Study: a prospective epidemiologic study of depressives, neurotic, and psychosomatic syndromes. I. problem, methodology. Eur Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 234:13–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Angst J, Merikangas K, Scheidegger P, Wicki W (1990) Recurrent brief depression: a new subtype of affective disorder. J Affective Disord 19:87–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft J, Backstorm T (1989) Premenstrual syndrome. Clin Endocrinol 5:39–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Birtchell J, Floyd S (1974) Attempted suicide and the menstrual cycle — a negative conclusion. J Psychosom Res 18:361–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Clare AW (1983) Psychiatric and social aspects of premenstrual complaint. Psychol Med [Suppl 4], 1–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppen A (1965) The prevalence of menstrual disorders in psychiatric patients. Br J Psychiatry 111:155–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppen K, Kessel N (1963) Menstruation and personality. Br J Psychiatry 109:711–721

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennerstein L, Burrows GD (1979) Affect and menstrual cycle. J Affective Disord 1:77–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennerstein L, Spencer-Gardener C, Burrows GD (1984) Psychiatric progress: mood and the menstrual cycle. J Psychiatr Res 18:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis RL (1977) Symptom Checklist 90, R-Version Manual I: Scoring, Administration and Procedures for the SCL-90. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond SB, Rubinstein AA, Dunner DL, Fieve RR (1976) Menstrual problems in women with primary affective illness. Compt Psychiatry 17:541–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducan DB (1975)t-Tests and intervals for comparisons suggested by the data. Biometrics 31:339–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Endicott J, Halbreich U, Schacht S, Nee HJ (1981) Premenstrual changes and affective disorders. Psychosom Med 43:519–529

    Google Scholar 

  • Endo M, Daiguji M, Asaro Y, Amashita I, Takahash S (1978) Periodic psychosis recurring in association with menstrual cycle. J Clin Psychiatry 39:456–466

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein MT, Hockaday JM, Hockaday JD (1975) Migraine and reproductive hormones throughout the menstrual cycle. Lancet I:543–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck HJ (1959) The Maudsley Personality Inventory. University of London Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Fahrenberg J, Selg H, Hampel R (1979) Das Freiburger Persönlichkeitsinventar. Hogrefe, Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Felthous AR, Robinson DB, Conroy RW (1980) Prevention of recurrent menstrual psychosis by an oral contraceptive. Am J Psychiatry 137:245–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene R, Dalton K (1953) The premenstrual syndrome. Br Med J 1:1007–1016

    Google Scholar 

  • Halbreich U, Endicott J (1985) Relationship of dysphoric premenstrual changes to depressive disorders. Acta Psychiatr Scand 71:331–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Halbreich U, Endicott J, Schacht S, Nee J (1982) The diversity of premenstrual changes as reflected in the premenstrual assessment form. Acta Psychiatr Scand 65:46–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallman J (1986) The premenstrual syndrome — an equivalent of depression? Acta Psychiatr Scand 73:403–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrove JT, Abraham GE (1982) The incidence of premenstrual tension in a gynaecological clinic. J Reprod Med 27:721–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison WM, Endicott J, Nee J, Glick H, Rabkin JG (1989) Characteristics of women seeking treatment for premenstrual syndrome. Psychosomatics 30:405–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes TH, Rahe RH (1967) The social readjustment rating scale. J Psychosom Res 11:213–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurt SW, Schnurr PP, Severino SK, Freeman EW, Gise LH, Rivera-Tovar A, Steege JF (1992) Late luteal phase dysphoric disorder in 670 women evaluated for premenstrual complaints. Am J Psychiatry 149:525–530

    Google Scholar 

  • International Headache Society (1988) Classification and diagnostic criteria for headache disorders, cranial neuralgias, and facial pain. Cephalalgia 8 [Suppl 7]:1–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Kashiwagi T, McClure JN, Wetzel RD (1976) Premenstrual affective syndrome and psychiatric disorder. Dis Nerv Syst 37:116–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutner SJ, Brown SL (1972) Types of contraceptives, depression and premenstrual symptoms. J Psychosom Res 31:185–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt EE, Lubin B (1967) Some personality factors associated with menstrual complaints and menstrual attitudes. J Psychosom Res 11:267–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Logue CM, Moos RH (1986) Premenstrual symptoms: prevalence and risk factors. Psychosom Med 48:388–414

    Google Scholar 

  • Moos RH, Koppell BS, Melges FT, Yalom ID, Lunde DT, Clayton RB, Hamburg DA (1969) Fluctuations in symptoms and moods during the menstrual cycle. J Psychosom Res 13: 37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlstein TB, Frank E, Rivera-Tovar A, Thoft JS, Jacobs E, Mieczkowski TA (1990) Prevalence of axis I and axis II disorders in woman with late luteal phase dysphoric disorder. J Affective Disord: 129–134

  • Rees L (1953) Psychosomatic aspects of the premenstrual tension syndrome. J Menstrual Sci 99:62–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid RL, Yen SSC (1981) Premenstrual syndrome. Am J Obstet Gynecol 139:85–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt P (1980) SAS Supplement Library User's Guide. SAS Institute, Inc, Cary, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivera-Tovar AD, Frank E (1990) Late luteal phase dysphoric disorder in young women. Am J Psychiatry 147:1634–1636

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinow DR, Roy-Byrne P (1984) Premenstrual syndromes: Overview from a methodologic perspective. Am J Psychiatry 141:163–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt PJ, Nieman LK, Grover GN, Muller KL, Merriam GR, Rubinow DR (1991) Lack of effect of induced menses on symptoms in women with premenstrual syndrome. N Engl J Med 324:1174–1179

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer RL, Endicott J, Robins E (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiatry 35:773–782

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer RL, Severino SK, Williams JBW, Parry BL (1989) Late luteal phase dysphoric disorders and DSM-III-R. Am J Psychiatry 146:892–897

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner M, Haskett RF, Carroll BJ (1980) Premenstrual tension syndrome: the development of research diagnostic criteria and new rating scales. Acta Psychiatr Scand 62:229–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout AL, Steege JF, Blazer DG, George LK (1986) Comparison of lifetime psychiatric diagnosis in premenstrual syndrome clinic and community samples. J Nerv Ment Dis 174:517–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor JW (1979) Psychological factors in the etiology of premenstrual symptoms. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 13:35–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Tennant C, Andrews G (1976) A scale to measure the stress of life events. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 10:27–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Tennant C, Andrews G (1977) A scale to measure the stress of life events. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 11:163–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner P, Bancroft J (1988) Mood, sexuality, oral contraceptives and the menstrual cycle. J Psychosom Res 32:417–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner P, Bancroft J (1990) Factors relating to self-reporting of the pre-menstrual syndrome. Br J Psychiatry 147:249–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts S, Dennerstein L, Horne DJ de L (1980) The premenstrual syndrome: a psychological evaluation. J Affective Dis 2:257–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel RD, Reich T, McClure JN, Wald J (1975) Premenstrual affective syndrome and affective disorder. Br J Psychiatry 127: 219–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams EY, Weekes LR (1952) Premenstrual tension associated with psychotic episodes. J Nerv Ment Dis 116:321–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods NF, Larson L, Williams R (1979) Social and psychological factors in relation to premenstrual tension and menstrual pain. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol 19:111–115

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Epidemiology Research Unit, Yale University School of Medicine, 40 Temple Street, 06510, New Haven, CT, USA

    Kathleen R. Merikangas

  2. Research Department, Psychiatric University Hospital, CH-8029, Zurich, Switzerland

    Monika Foeldenyi & Jules Angst

Authors
  1. Kathleen R. Merikangas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Monika Foeldenyi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jules Angst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Merikangas, K.R., Foeldenyi, M. & Angst, J. The Zurich Study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 243, 23–32 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02191520

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02191520

Key words

Search

Navigation