Premenstrual emotional changes in normal women: fact or fiction?

Abstract

One hundred and eighteen women reported their experiences of symptoms on a daily basis. They were unaware that the study concerned the menstrual cycle. There was evidence of cyclic changes peaking premenstrually and menstrually for physical symptoms but psychological changes occurred randomly throughout the cycle. A possible explanation for the discrepancy between beliefs about the occurrence of symptoms and ratings of symptoms from daily reports is explored. This relies on the experience of random emotional fluctuations and differential patterns of attribution.