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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Perinatal Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1443352
This article is part of the Research Topic Psychiatric Illness Across the Menstrual Cycle View all 4 articles

The Link between Childhood Traumatic Events and the Continuum of Premenstrual Disorders

Provisionally accepted
Lindsay R. Standeven Lindsay R. Standeven 1*Mira Bajaj Mira Bajaj 2*Kathleen McEvoy Kathleen McEvoy 3Kristin Voegtline Kristin Voegtline 4Dalar Shirinian Dalar Shirinian 5Lauren M. Osborne Lauren M. Osborne 4Jennifer L. Payne Jennifer L. Payne 6Liisa Hantsoo Liisa Hantsoo 2*
  • 1 The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, United States
  • 2 School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • 3 Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • 4 Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, New York, United States
  • 5 School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
  • 6 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), collectively known as Premenstrual Disorders (PMDs), cause significant distress and functional impairment, and premenstrual exacerbation (PME) affects a large proportion of women with psychiatric diagnoses. Childhood trauma is one factor that may contribute to PMD/PME risk. This study examines the relationship between childhood trauma and PMDs, PME, and non-PMD psychiatric illness.Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort. Participants completed self-assessments on childhood trauma using the Childhood Traumatic Event Scale (CTE-S) and on premenstrual symptoms using the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST). Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed through structured clinical interviews. Participants were divided into four groups based on their PSST scores and psychiatric illness status: (1) Premenstrual Disorders (PMDs; moderate to severe PMS and PMDD), (2) PME, (3) psychiatric controls (PC; individuals with psychiatric illness but no significant premenstrual symptoms), and (4) healthy controls (HC; individuals with no psychiatric illness and no significant premenstrual symptoms). Statistical analyses, including ANOVA, Tukey's HSD test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression, were conducted to examine differences among the groups.Results: Data from 391 participants were analyzed. Participants with PME and PC reported a higher quantity and severity of childhood traumatic events compared to HCs (p < .05). There was a weak but significant correlation between childhood trauma and premenstrual symptom burden across all groups (R = .18, p < .001). Within-group analysis revealed moderate correlations between childhood trauma and premenstrual symptoms driven by the PMD group (R = .42, p = .01). Conclusions: The findings underscore the impact of childhood traumatic events on mental health and premenstrual symptoms and highlight the need for additional research to explore the underlying mechanisms linking childhood trauma to the continuum of premenstrual disorders, to improve the efficacy of trauma-focused interventions for affected individuals.

    Keywords: childhood trauma, Premenstrual Syndrome, Premenstrual Exacerbation (PME), Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), Adverse childhood experiences, Menstrual Cycle

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Standeven, Bajaj, McEvoy, Voegtline, Shirinian, Osborne, Payne and Hantsoo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Lindsay R. Standeven, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, United States
    Mira Bajaj, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 21205, Maryland, United States
    Liisa Hantsoo, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 21205, Maryland, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.