The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Premenstrual Syndrome

Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is one of the most common psychosomatic disorders in reproductive-aged females and due to its less severe symptoms, administration of non-pharmacological interventions as the first-line is emphasized. Objectives: The current study aimed at examining the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy on PMS symptoms. Methods: The current randomized, controlled trial was performed on 40 students with PMS from Shahid Chamran University in Ahvaz, Iran in the academic year 2016-2017. Students were allocated into 2 groups (20 subjects in each) using simple random sampling method by the random number table. Students in the intervention group received eight 1-hour sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy weekly and the students in the control group received no intervention. The PMS symptoms were assessed using the daily symptom records (DSR) questionnaire, before, just after the completion of intervention, and one month later. Results: In the intervention group, the mean score of PMS symptoms immediately (27.65 +/- 7.34) and one month after the completion of the intervention (28.15 +/- 7.13) showed a significant reduction, compared with the pre-intervention scores (42 +/- 9.09) using the repeated measure test (P < 0.05). In the control group, the mean score of PMS symptoms immediately (40.05 +/- 7.85) and one month after the intervention (40.15 +/- 7.71), compared with that of the pre-intervention (40.25 +/- 7.93) showed no significant changes in the control group (P > 0.05). Also, the symptoms of PMS significantly reduced in the intervention group in just after the intervention and the follow-up visit, compared with that of the control group (P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the findings, mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy could reduce physical and behavioral symptoms of PMS in the studied students.