Page No 71-80
Immanuel Thomas and Girija Narayanan
Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram
13-73-82Although the symptoms of premenstrual distress may have a physiological basis, there are
strong indications that the involvement of psychological factors in precipitating these symptoms
cannot be ruled out. The present study is an attempt to identify the important dimensions of
premenstrual distress as well as its psycho-social correlates. The sample consisted of 320
women in the age range of 18-50 drawn from various sub-stratas of the general population in
Kerala. An assortment of psycho-social variables were subjected to study, which included
age, socio-economic status, life stress, maladjustment, and personality. Factor analysis of
the different variables of premenstrual distress resulted in the extraction of four meaningful
orthogonal factors, with premenstrual distress emerging as the most important dimension.
Correlational analysis of the data led to the conclusion that there is a strong psycho-social
basis for the various symptoms of premenstrual distress
strong indications that the involvement of psychological factors in precipitating these symptoms
cannot be ruled out. The present study is an attempt to identify the important dimensions of
premenstrual distress as well as its psycho-social correlates. The sample consisted of 320
women in the age range of 18-50 drawn from various sub-stratas of the general population in
Kerala. An assortment of psycho-social variables were subjected to study, which included
age, socio-economic status, life stress, maladjustment, and personality. Factor analysis of
the different variables of premenstrual distress resulted in the extraction of four meaningful
orthogonal factors, with premenstrual distress emerging as the most important dimension.
Correlational analysis of the data led to the conclusion that there is a strong psycho-social
basis for the various symptoms of premenstrual distress