The effect of job stress and job interdependency on menstrual cycle length, regularity and synchrony.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of job stress and job interdependency on menstrual cycle length, regularity and synchrony. In addition, the effect of menstrual cycle phase on self-reported measures of daily stress was assessed. Women coworkers in occupations characterized by levels of interdependency that were greater than or equal to levels of stress displayed synchrony. Women in a high stress, low interdependency occupation were not synchronized. Multiple regression analyses revealed that women who lived with their sexual partners displayed less synchrony than women who were not cohabiting; women who experienced high levels of anxiety and job stress were less synchronized than women with low levels of these variables; and women who perceived their jobs as requiring moderate to high levels of interdependency were more synchronized than those who did not. Longer menstrual cycles were associated with women who cohabited, who reported high levels of anxiety and who had high scores on the Holmes-Rahe Schedule of Recent Events. Regular cycles were associated with lower levels of anxiety and lower scores on the Holmes-Rahe inventory. Finally, self-reports of daily stress were greater during the late luteal and early menstrual phase of the cycle.