The Role of Emotion Regulation Dispositions and Uncontrollability Beliefs in Premenstrual Distress: an Intensive Longitudinal Daily Diary Study

Objective Premenstrual distress is a common and burdensome experience among women. Yet, its psychological risk factors remain insufficiently understood. The present daily diary study addresses this issue by examining whether uncontrollability beliefs about the premenstrual period and emotion regulation dispositions are associated with variations in women's distress across the menstrual cycle. Method Ninety-four French women first completed a questionnaire assessing uncontrollability beliefs about the premenstrual period. They subsequently reported their daily distress, use of reappraisal and rumination to regulate negative emotions, and menstrual status each evening over a 31-day period. Results Findings obtained with multilevel modeling revealed a general increase in distress during the premenstrual period. This increase was stronger among women endorsing greater uncontrollability beliefs about the premenstrual period. By contrast, emotion regulation dispositions were associated with overall distress levels rather than with specifically premenstrual variations in distress. Women reporting lower use of reappraisal and higher use of rumination experienced elevated distress throughout the menstrual cycle. Conclusion The findings suggest that distinguishing cognitive factors specifically associated with the increase in distress during the premenstrual period from those associated with elevated distress more generally across the menstrual cycle may represent an important step toward a more precise understanding of premenstrual distress.