Abstract
We administered the Premenstrual Assessment Form (PAF), a standardized self-report questionnaire, to 208 females at a suburban Adolescent Health Service to determine whether adolescents experience the premenstrual changes in mood, behavior, and physical synptoms reported in adults. The PAF consists of 95 items on a 6-point rating scale. It is scored by computer to establish 18 diagnostic categories and an index of severity of emotional and physical symptoms. Subjects sere 12-21 yrs of age frean 17.6±1.7), 89% white, 59% in high school and 28% in college. Premenstrual symptoms, reported by 96% of subjects, uere most often categorized into the following synpton complexes: general discomfort (74% of subjects), impaired social functioning (50%), water retention (50%), major depressive (47%), impulsive (38%), fatigue(32%), and Minor depressive (18%). The prevalence of these complexes matches almost exactly that reported in publidied series of adults (with the exception of impaired social functioning, reported in only 17% of adults). The severity of emotional and physical symptoms are also within the same range as those reported in adults. Syomptoms did not vary significantly among adolescent subjects based on age, race, school status, or parental education. feaer (p < .05) premenstrual symptoms were reported by the 23% of subjects on the birth control pill and by the 38% with mild or no cramps during their menses.
Those symptoms said to constitute the “Premenstrual Syndrome” occur as frequently in adolescents as in adults, with a higher incidence of social impairment. Physical and emotional complaints in adolescents must be evaluated, both by the clinician and researcher, in the context of these findings.
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Fsiher, M., Trieller, K. & Napolitano, B. PREMENSTRUAL, SYMPTONS IN AIXLESCENTS. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 174 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00047
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00047