None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Premenstrual symptomatology is now widely recognised to be a major social and health problem, with epidemiological surveys estimating that up to 95% of women experience physical and psychological changes premenstrually (Mortola 1992). Up to 40% experience moderate distress, categorised by clinicians and researchers as Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), and 13-19% experience severe distress and disruption to their lives, categorised as Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) (Halbreich, Borenstein et al. 2003). The costs of premenstrual distress, in terms of impact upon women’s quality of life and economic functioning, are estimated to be considerable (Robinson and Swindle 2000). A range of PMS treatments have been developed, however, these have been directed solely at women with PMS, consisting of individual psychological therapy or medical intervention, and there have been no systematic evaluations of couple-based interventions for PMS. This negates research evidence that PMS is a relational issue, with premenstrual distress developing, and being positioned as ‘PMS’, within family relationships (Perz and Ussher 2006; Ussher 2006). Based within the University of Western Sydney, in partnership with FPA Health (Family Planning Association, NSW), the aims of this project were to draw on and augment an ongoing program of PMS research through: 1. Evaluating the relative efficacy of a brief couple-based PMS intervention, in comparison to an empirically supported one-to-one PMS intervention, and a wait-list control, within a randomised controlled trial, using the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Interventions
(1) Individual PMS intervention: Three monthly 90-minute sessions of therapy and a 2-month booster session conducted by a registered clinical psychologist. Sessions were delivered face-to-face or via Sykpe videoconference. This empirically supported (Hunter, Ussher et al. 2002b) one-to-one intervention uses a combination of narrative and cognitive-behavioural techniques to facilitate women’s re-authoring of their experience of PMS, improve coping, and reduce distress (Ussher, Hunter et al. 200
(1) Individual PMS intervention: Three monthly 90-minute sessions of therapy and a 2-month booster session conducted by a registered clinical psychologist. Sessions were delivered face-to-face or via Sykpe videoconference. This empirically supported (Hunter, Ussher et al. 2002b) one-to-one intervention uses a combination of narrative and cognitive-behavioural techniques to facilitate women’s re-authoring of their experience of PMS, improve coping, and reduce distress (Ussher, Hunter et al. 2002). Topics covered are: Information about PMS; Taking care of yourself; Taking care of your needs; Taking care of your relationships; Taking care of your thinking. (2) Couple-based Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) intervention: Three 90-minute sessions of brief couple-based PMS therapy, conducted on a monthly basis, and a 2-month booster session, conducted by a registered clinical psychologist. Sessions were delivered face-to-face or via Sykpe videoconference. The couple-based PMS therapy differs from the one-to-one PMS intervention on which it is based primarily in terms of modality (couple versus individual), and the addition of Couples Dialogue techniques (Hendrix 1990) to facilitate couple communication. This allows for the active involvement of the woman’s partner in understanding PMS, and in strategies of prevention and amelioration. In both conditions, adherence to the intervention program was achieved by following a structured and manualised program for the sessions. A log of sessions was maintained by the administering psychologist and securely stored. The log recorded the date, attendees, session details and any field notes where relevant.
Sponsors
Professor Jane Ussher
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
20 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Age between 20 and 45 years of age; having regular menstrual cycles (21-35 days); currently in a relationship (heterosexual or lesbian); and presence of moderate-severe premenstrual symptoms. The latter is manifested by a 30% increase in two or more affective symptoms (e.g. depressed mood, irritability, anxiety/tension, aggressive feelings, and tiredness) from pre-post menstruation in each of two adjusted menstrual cycles, as measured on a daily mood diary.
Exclusion criteria
Presently taking hormonal or psychotropic medication or currently experiencing a major psychiatric illness; being pregnant or lactating within the previous 12 months.
Outcome results
None listed