The Biopsychosocial Model: Menstrual Attitudes, Sources of Information, and Premenstrual Symptomatology among Mothers with and without PMS and Adolescent Daughters

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate mothers diagnosed with or without PMS and their firstborn biological adolescent daughters in order to examine the relationship of menstrual attitudes and sources of information with premenstrual symptomatology. Findings of this study demonstrated that 79 percent of the daughters experienced premenstrual symptomatology if their mothers had PMS, whereas only 18 percent of the daughters experienced premenstrual symptomatology if their mothers did not have PMS. Results revealed significant differences in sources of menstrual information between the daughters of mothers with PMS and the daughters of mothers without PMS. Daughters of mothers without PMS reported elementary school, high school, and biology classes as a primary source of menstrual information, whereas daughters of mothers with PMS did not. Mothers with PMS viewed menstruation as debilitating and bothersome. Mothers without PMS viewed menstruation as a natural event and denied any effect of menstruation. None of the daughters, regardless of PMS or non-PMS symptomatology, viewed menstruation as debilitating or bothersome and tended to deny the effects of menstruation. Daughters with premenstrual symptomatology differed significantly from daughters without premenstrual symptomatology in that they anticipated the onset of menstruation. Thus negative menstrual attitudes do not appear to be a factor in the genesis of premenstrual syndrome. However, having a mother with PMS who is a primary source of information could be a factor in the genesis of PMS. These findings suggest the importance of including premenstrual education within the parameters of menstrual education throughout the elementary, middle, and high schools years and we recommend a focused intervention protocol for adolescent daughters whose mothers have PMS