Abstract
Past research suggests that women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) have higher levels of alcohol use/abuse. The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that women with diverse patterns of affective response to the menstrual cycle (PMS pattern, mid-cycle pattern, and noncyclical pattern) would show mean-level differences on measures of self-reported affective response to alcohol, alcohol use, and sleep changes following alcohol use. All participants from an initial study of n = 213 college-aged women who had prospectively completed daily questionnaires for two full menstrual cycles were asked to complete a one-time retrospective questionnaire regarding their alcohol use and typical affective response when consuming alcohol. From that original study, n = 161 also participated in the present study. Results showed significant differences, in the expected direction, on three out of five measures (hard alcohol use, negative affective response to alcohol, and change in sleep following alcohol use). Women in the PMS pattern group reported (retrospectively) higher levels of hard alcohol use, a less negative affective response associated with alcohol use, and lower levels of sleep changes in relation to alcohol use, as compared to the mid-cycle group. The discussion considers potential mechanisms that may be responsible for these associations (i.e., GABAA modulation).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC
Andréen L, Nyberg S, Turkmen S, van Wingen G, Fernández G, Bäckström T (2009) Sex steroid induced negative mood may be explained by the paradoxical effect mediated by GABAA modulators. Psychoneuroendocrinology 34:1121–1132
Bancroft J, Boyle H, Warner P, Fraser HM (1987) The use of an LHRH agonist, buserelin, in the long-term management premenstrual syndrome. Clin Endocrinol 27:171–182
Bloch M, Schmidt PJ, Rubinow DR (1997) Premenstrual syndrome: evidence for symptom stability across cycles. Am J Psychiatry 154:1741–1746
Bot SM, Engels RCME, Knibbe RA, Meeus WHJ (2007) Sociometric status and social drinking: observations of modeling and persuasion in young adult peer groups. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35:929–941
Brick J, Nathan PE, Westrick E, Frankenstein W, Shapiro A (1986) The effect of menstrual cycle on blood alcohol levels and behavior. J Stud Alcohol 47:472–477
Brown SA, Christiansen BA, Goldman MS (1987) The alcohol expectancy questionnaire: an instrument for the assessment of adolescent and adult alcohol expectancies. J Stud Alcohol 48:483–491
Caan B, Duncan D, Hiatt R, Lewis J, Chapman J, Armstrong MA (1993) Associations between alcoholic and caffeinated beverages and premenstrual syndrome. J Reprod Med 38:630–636
Charette L, Tate DL, Wilson A (1990) Alcohol consumption and menstrual distress in women at higher and lower risk for alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 14:152–157
Chuong CJ, Burgos DM (1995) Medical history in women with premenstrual syndrome. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol 16:21–27
Deuster PA, Adera T, South-Paul J (1999) Biological, social, and behavioral factors associated with premenstrual syndrome. Arch Fam Med 8:122–128
Feige B, Gann H, Brueck R, Hornyak M, Litsch S, Hohagen F, Riemann D (2006) Effects of alcohol on polysomnographically recorded sleep in healthy subjects. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 30:1527–1537
Gold EB, Bair Y, Block G, Greendale GA, Harlow SD, Johnson S, Kravitz HM, Rasor MO, Siddiqui A, Sternfeld B, Utts J, Zhang G (2007) Diet and lifestyle factors associated with premenstrual symptoms in a racially diverse community sample: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). J Womens Health 16:641–656
Haddad L, Milke P, Zapata L, de la Fuente JR, Vargas-Vorackova F, Lorenzana-Jimenez M, Corte G, Tamayo J, Kaplan M, Marquez M, Kershenobich D (1998) Effects of the menstrual cycle in ethanol pharmacokinetics. J Appl Toxicol 18:15–18
Halliday A, Bush B, Cleary P, Aronson M, Delbanco T (1986) Alcohol abuse in women seeking gynecologic care. Obstet Gynecol 68:322–326
Holdstock L, de Wit H (2000) Effects of ethanol at four phases of the menstrual cycle. Psychopharmacology 150:374–382
Holdstock L, King AC, de Wit H (2000) Subjective and objective responses to ethanol in moderate/heavy and light social drinkers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 24:789–794
Hourani LL, Yuan H, Bray RM (2004) Psychosocial and lifestyle correlates of premenstrual symptoms among military women. J Womens Health 13:812–821
Kiesner J (2009) Physical characteristics of the menstrual cycle and premenstrual depressive symptoms. Psychol Sci 20:763–770
Kiesner J (2011) One woman’s low is another woman’s high: paradoxical effects of the menstrual cycle. Psychoneuroendocrinology 36:68–76
Kiesner J, Pastore M (2010) Day-to-day co-variations of psychological and physical symptoms of the menstrual cycle: insights to individual differences in steroid reactivity. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35:350–363
King AC, Houle T, de Wit H, Holdstock L, Schuster A (2002) Biphasic alcohol response differs in heavy versus light drinkers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 26:827–835
Kritz-Silverstein D, Wingard DL, Garland FC (1999) The association of behavior and lifestyle factors with menstrual symptoms. J Womens Health & Gender-Based Medicine 8:1185–1193
Larsen H, van der Zwaluw CS, Overbeek G, Granic I, Franke B, Engels RCME (2010) A variable-number-of-tandem-repeats polymorphism in the dopamine D4 receptor gene affects social adaptation of alcohol use: investigation of a gene–environment interaction. Psychol Sci 21:1064–1068
McLeod DR, Foster GV, Hoehn-Saric R, Svikis DS, Hipsley PA (1994) Family history of alcoholism in women with generalized anxiety disorder who have premenstrual syndrome: patient reports of premenstrual alcohol consumption and symptoms of anxiety. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 18:664–670
Mello NK, Mendelson JH, Lex BW (1990) Alcohol use and premenstrual symptoms in social drinkers. Psychopharmacology 101:448–455
Mumenthaler MS, O’Hara R, Taylor JL, Friedman L, Yesavage JA (2001) Influence of the menstrual cycle on flight simulator performance after alcohol ingestion. J Stud Alcohol 62:422–433
Nyberg S, Wahlström G, Bäckström T, Sundström-Poromaa I (2004) Altered sensitivity to alcohol in the late luteal phase among patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29:767–777
Nyberg S, Andersson A, Zingmark E, Wahlström G, Bäckström T, Sundström-Poromaa I (2005) The effects of a low dose of alcohol on allopregnanolone serum concentrations across the menstrual cycle in women with severe premenstrual syndrome and controls. Psychoneuroendocrinology 30:892–901
Orcutt JD, Harvey LK (1991) The temporal patterning of tension reduction: stress and alcohol use on weekdays and weekends. J Stud Alcohol 52:415–424
Pastor AD, Evans SM (2003) Alcohol outcome expectancies and risk for alcohol use problems in women with and without a family history of alcoholism. Drug Alcohol Depend 70:201–214
Perry BL, Miles D, Burruss K, Svikis DS (2004) Premenstrual symptomatology and alcohol consumption in college women. J Stud Alcohol 65:464–468
Sagawa Y, Kondo H, Matsubuchi N, Takemura T, Kanayama H, Kaneko Y, Kanbayashi T, Hishikawa Y, Shimizu T (2011) Alcohol has a dose-related effect on parasympathetic nerve activity during sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35:2093–2100
Schmidt PJ, Nieman LK, Danaceau MA, Adams LF, Rubinow DR (1998) Differential behavioral effects of gonadal steroids in women with and in those without premenstrual syndrome. N Eng J Med 338:209–216
Singleton RA, Wolfson AR (2009) Alcohol consumption, sleep, and academic performance among college students. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 70:355–363
Strine TW, Chapman DP, Ahluwalia IB (2005) Menstrual-related problems and psychological distress among women in the United States. J Womens Health 14:316–323
Svikis DS, Miles DR, Haug NA, Perry B, Hoehn-Saric R, McLeod D (2006) Premenstrual symptomatology, alcohol consumption, and family history of alcoholism in women with premenstrual syndrome. J Stud Alcohol 67:833–839
Tate DL, Charette L (1991) Personality, alcohol consumption, and menstrual distress in young women. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 15:647–652
Tobin MB, Schmidt PJ, Rubinow DR (1994) Reported alcohol use in women with premenstrual syndrome. Am J Psychiatry 151:1503–1504
Torres JM, Ortega E (2003) Alcohol intoxication increases allopregnanolone levels in female adolescent humans. Neuropsychopharmacology 28:1207–1209
Wittchen HU, Becker E, Lieb R, Krause P (2002) Prevalence, incidence and stability of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in the community. Psychol Med 32:119–132
Conflict of interest
The author has no financial interest in this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kiesner, J. Affective response to the menstrual cycle as a predictor of self-reported affective response to alcohol and alcohol use. Arch Womens Ment Health 15, 423–432 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0303-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0303-1