The relationship between incidence of premenstrual syndrome and trait anger and anger expression styles in women

PMS (Premenstrual syndrome) is one of the most common problems women of reproductive ages face regardless of what age they are. Anger and irritability have an adverse effect on everyday life and these are the most severe and the longest-lasting symptoms to be observed in PMS. This study was conducted as descriptive research with a group of women, ages 15-49, living in the city of Kütahya, for the purpose of examining the relationship between PMS and trait anger and anger expression. The study recruited 720 randomly selected women into the study. The data of the study were collected over the period of October - December 2016 at the Kütahya Central Fatih Family Health Center. A Personal Questionnaire, the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale and the Trait Anger-Anger Expression Scale were used in the collection of data. The data were evaluated with the SPSS 20.0 program. The data analysis employed frequencies, percentages, the chi-square, independent groups t tests and correlation analysis. The mean age of the women was 30.00±8.64; 38.3% had university or higher-level degrees. Of the women, 73.5% were housewives and 64.6% were married. PMS prevalence was 48.75%. A review of the women's marital status, experience with dysmenorrhea, menstrual cycle, general premenstrual status, pregnancy status, family history, smoking, drinking, consuming fizzy drinks and coffee consumption habits revealed a statistically significant differences between the group experiencing PMS and the group that did not experience PMS (p<0.05). A review of the women's ages, income status, use of birth control pills, consumption of foods containing sugar, their habits of adding salt to their meals before tasting, consumption of tea and their exercising habits did not reveal a statistically significant difference between the group experiencing PMS and the group that did not experience PMS (p>0.05). A significant relationship was seen between the women's status of experiencing PMS and their trait anger and anger expression. The women experiencing PMS displayed significantly higher scores in the areas of trait anger, introvert anger and extrovert anger while their anger control scores were significantly lower compared to women who did not experience PMS. There were statistically significant differences between the PMS subscales scores and the Trait Anger and Anger Expression subscales scores (p<0.05). In conclusion, it may be suggested that women experiencing anger control issues in the premenstrual period be provided social support and anger control education. More advanced studies based on conclusive evidence are needed to determine the relationship between PMS and anger.