Coping resources of women with premenstrual syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to determine what coping resources are used by women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and to compare the coping resources used with those of a normative population. Two hundred forty-four women volunteered to be in the study. After screening and a 3-month lapse time required for diary completion, 54 subjects remained in the study. A history developed by the researchers, menstrual diaries, and the Coping Resources Inventory (CRIS) were used in data collection. The findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between the dependent variable, severity of PMS, and the independent variables, self-disclosure, stress monitoring, social support, and structure. There was a positive relationship between self-disclosure and stress monitoring with severity of PMS, and an inverse relationship between social support and structuring and severity of PMS.