Date of Award
4-1988
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Howard E. Farris
Second Advisor
Dr. R. Wayne Fuqua
Third Advisor
Dr. Jack L. Michael
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
For the premenstrual syndrome (PMS), there is no consensus as to specific symptoms comprising the syndrome or their temporal relationship to the menstrual cycle. The purpose of this study was to delimit and define PMS by comparing contemporaneous, behavioral data collected by 3 groups of subjects.
Based on the results of this study, PMS is suspected of being a misnomer for frequently random symptoms which may or may not be menstrually-related. "Syndrome" is misleading since there is no group of symptoms specific to one group of women. "Pre-" and "menstrual" are also misleading because the symptoms do not occur consistently before menses onset and can occur in women who no longer menstruate. The term PMS may have developed out of a sense of convenience for diagnosing and treating, as a single entity, certain behavioral, emotional and physical responses. However, this approach often leads to misdiagnosis and mistreatment of discrete, non-hormonally related responses.
Recommended Citation
Kerr, R. Hope, "The Use of a Behavioral Checklist to Delimit and Define the Premenstrual Syndrome" (1988). Masters Theses. 1141.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1141