Citation

Lustyk MK, Widman L, Becker LL. Women Health 2007; 46(4): 61-80.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Family, and Community, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA 98119, USA. klustyk@spu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

18512452

Abstract

The present study assessed the interrelationships among abuse history (Abuse), perceived stress (Stress), and premenstrual symptom severity reports (PMSR) among female college students (N = 91, 18-25 years old), and determined if Stress mediated the relationship between Abuse and PMSR. Abuse history was noted by 44% of women in this sample, including sexual (25%), physical (11%), or both sexual and physical (8%) abuse. Importantly, results showed significant positive relationships between Abuse, Stress, and PMSR, suggesting Abuse affects psychological and physical aspects of women's health. Overall, women rated PMSR affect symptoms highest, and abused women rated pain and water retention higher than non-abused women. Stress did not fully mediate the relationship between Abuse and PMSR in this study, but accounted for 24% of the variance between these variables. The health implications of these findings are discussed.

Language: en