Moderating effects of mood monitoring on premenstrual dysphoria
Van-Leeson T., Totterdell P., Parkinson B.
Twenty-two self-reported premenstrual syndrome sufferers made 2-hourly ratings of affect and affect regulation for 31 days. Happiness and calmness were depressed during the premenstrual phase for high mood monitors but enhanced for low mood monitors. High mood monitors also reported increased use of reappraisal to regulate their premenstrual affect. However, the impact of the premenstrual phase on high mood monitors' affect was not mediated by changes in affect regulation. These findings suggest that mood monitoring leads to both more negative interpretations of affect changes during the premenstrual phase and to parallel changes in regulation style.