Socioemotional correlates of self‐reported menstrual cycle irregularity: replication and extension

Abstract

We previously reported a positive association between the socioemotional trait submissiveness and retrospective reports of menstrual cycle irregularity during the prior 12 months. The aim of the present study was to replicate and extend this finding. Eighty women, 20 to 35 years of age, completed socioemotional trait measures and reported on lifetime cycle irregularity when they were neither pregnant nor using hormonal contraceptives. The socioemotional composite ‘hostile submissiveness’ was positively associated with cycle irregularity; anger‐in, one aspect of this composite, was a particularly robust correlate. Results provide a conceptual replication of our prior research on submissiveness and menstrual cycle irregularity and offer further evidence that menstrual functioning is sensitive to socioemotional processes.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NHLBI R29 HL58528, awarded to the first author.